Nobody Ever Said It Would Be Easy
by sincerelysabrina
Summary: It should have been easy. All Ross and Laura had to do was prove to the directors that they were comfortable with each other, within three months. But it's Hollywood, and since when have plans made in Hollywood ever gone right? Full summary inside, in case you want to see it all.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: It should have been easy. All Ross and Laura had to do was prove to the directors that they were comfortable with each other, within three months. But it's Hollywood, and since when have plans made in Hollywood ever gone right?

Alternate Summary: Ross Lynch and Laura Marano have big dreams, and none of them include each other. But let's throw touchy-feely directors, crazy families and family crises, meddling best friends, and road trips into the mix, and then you might get love. Hey, nobody ever said it would be easy.

Explanation: Alright, I know the FanFiction policy. I'm not supposed to write stories like this, about the actors instead of the characters in the show. But, seriously, where am I supposed to put it, on FictionPress? It's not exactly an original work, since Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, and many other people I plan to have in this series are real. Honestly, writing stories about actors should be allowed on FanFiction. Fanfiction is simply writing fictious works about real people on/in shows/books.

**A/N: So, I normally don't put Author's Notes at the beginning— although I seem to be doing a lot of that in my Austin & Ally stories... Anyways. The first four paragraphs are an explanation (still in story format) of why Ross and Laura need to spend more time with each other. You can skip it if you'd like (but you should probably read it). The author's note is really long, but if you want to understand key points of the story, it's SUPER IMPORTANT that you read it! In fact, you should read the author's note at the bottom BEFORE you read the story! That's all!**

* * *

><p>It started with their director. Eric Dean Seaton and Sally Jensen both agreed that the cast should be familiar with each other— they were supposed to think of them like family. For Raini Rodriguez, it was easy enough— she had always been a very friendly person. She made friends with everyone on set almost immediately. For Ross Lynch, the same could almost be said. He and Raini hit it off great, and he was friends with everyone— but not as comfortable around everyone like Raini. Laura Marano was friendly and helpful— everyone liked her, but she only had one best friend on set. She and Raini had known each other for four years, and had been best friends for three. Calum Worthy, on the other hand, made everyone laugh— he was just hilarious, and made friends as easily as Ross.<p>

Calum, Raini, Ross, and Laura all got along easily as a group, but when you put them into pairs, you got something else. Calum was close friends with Raini, Ross, and Laura. Raini was on the brink of best friendship with everyone. Ross had always had an extra charm; a special charisma that drew others to him, so making friends was never a problem. Laura, although having had a shy personality in elementary school, had quickly made friends with all of them.

Ross and Laura together, though... well, it was a little awkward. Of course, the awkwardness never showed up on camera, in interviews, or pictures, but privately, they didn't know each other that well.

The directors noticed this, and told them with crisp bluntness to get to know each other better, because the awkwardness was killing them. Also, Eric and Sally wanted Ross and Laura to improve their acting, thinking that they could help each other. Ross always fidgeted when he wasn't the one acting or performing, resulting in an awkwardness that showed quite obviously. When Laura's voice was supposed to show surprise, despair, happiness, etcetera etcetera in a sudden burst of emotion, it was never very convincing. Where one of them was lacking, the other was great, so the directors thought why not? and told them to spend more time with each other. **(1)**

The big decision was made on September 29th, two months before Laura's sweet sixteen.

"Does anyone know what this 'Important Cast Meeting' is all about?" asked Raini, putting finger-quotes around Important Cast Meeting.

Calum shrugged. "I don't know."

Ross shrugged. "No one ever tells me anything."

Laura groaned. "It's 4:30 in the morning. Did we really have to come this early for an 'Important Staff Meeting'?"

"Y'know, Laura, I get the impression that you don't like early mornings very much," said Calum sagely.

Laura only groaned another time. "No shit, Sherlock."

"'Morning, everyone!" So Random's Audrey Whitby greeted them brightly.

Ross smiled dopily, leaning against Calum. "It's early," he noted dreamily.

Calum looked apologetic. "Overdose on cold meds," he explained.

"Must suck being his best guy friend," joked Raini.

"Raini," sighed Laura tiredly. "Do you have any Tylenol on you?"

"Yeah, hun, here you go." Raini popped open a mini bottle of Tylenol, handing Laura one.

"Thanks." She took the pill gratefully, dry-swallowing it.

"How do you do that?" asked Calum, amazed.

Laura groaned. "Well, I didn't really have a choice, Calum. Plus, I have a really bad headache."

"I don't think that's what you take for headaches," Audrey giggled lightly.

"Tylenol is my cure for everything," stated Laura simply, and that was that.

There was an awkward silence in the elevator as it dinged, letting in more people.

"Hey, Jake." Laura greeted the RadioDisney reporter tiredly.

"Hey, Laura," he replied, amused. "I'n guessing you're not an early bird?"

"Hi, Jake! Is that a parrot on your shirt?" Ross pointed to Jake's shirt, his finger drooping as he smiled dopily.

"Um, no." Jake carefully removed Ross's finger from his shirt, sending everyone a questioning look.

"Overdose on cold meds," they explained in unison.

"Oh, okay," he said, looking satisfied with the answer he recieved. The elevator ding-ed again, to let Jake out. "Bye, guys!"

After he left, Laura leaned against Raini's shoulder. "Ugh," she groaned, hand going to her forehead. "I got, like, two hours of sleep last night."

"Why?" asked Calum.

"Vanessa's**(4)**stupid computer kept me up all night long. There's a virus or something in it, because it won't stop beeping every ten minutes. She hooked it up with the BlueTooth sound system in the house, so I can't get away from it, no matter where I go." Her face scrunched up just remembering her awful night's sleep.

The elevator ding-ed again, and Audrey waved at them brightly. "Bye, guys! Hope you have a nice day!"

"You know, she's nice, but she's unrealistically chipper," mused Calum.

"Excuse me? I'm always chipper, and I don't hear you complaining about it! Audrey is a perfectly nice person! A little... overeager, but still! You guys, be nice!" chided Trish.

Laura yawned, then let out a small giggle. "You know, Ross, Audrey's definitely got a crush on you. She's completley obvious about it, though. She's just a bit overeager, like Raini said."

"Wha— me?" Ross pointed to himself, eyelids drooping. "Guys, I feel sleepy..."

"Hey!" Raini slapped him.

"Ow!" exclaimed Ross, clutching his now-red cheek.

Raini put her hands on her hips. "Calum, what did you give him an overdose of, exactly?"

"Benodryl**(2)**," he mumbled guiltily.

"Benodryl**(2)**?" cried Laura. "He's not going to make it through the rest of the morning without falling asleep! Calum, why didn't you ask one of us to help?"

Calum shrugged. "I thought I could handle it..."

Laura shook her head, closing her eyes, then opening them a moment later. "Okay. We're just going to keep slapping him awake, or something."

"Or we could send him home for the day," said Raini.

"He has to be awake for the meeting at least!" exclaimed Laura. The elevator ding-ed, and Ross jerked awake.

"It's our floor," Calum pointed out.

"Let's go," sighed Laura, exiting the elevator, along with everyone else, making sure to kick Ross awake.

"Meeting! Right..." Ross shook his head. "Ugh, Calum, what did you give me?"

"Nothing much, justsomebenodryl," replied Calum quickly.

"Some what?"

"Benodryl**(2)**. Calum here gave you an overdose of Benodryl**(2)**," explained Laura.

"Benodryl**(2)**? C'mon, man!" complained Ross, rubbing his face. "Laura, you're going to have to keep on kicking me, or something. I gotta stay awake during that meeting!"

"Yeah, I only got two hours of sleep last night, so we'll be kicking each other," replied Laura.

"Oh, relax! I'll kick you both!" Calum grinned at them.

"Great plan; you kick them both, and I'll kick you!" Trish smiled sweetly at the ginger.

"Wait, why do you have to kick me?"

"Because you're the reason Ross is half-asleep!"

"Oh. Right."

"Oh, just hurry up, we're gonna be late!"

"Okay, okay! Raini, stop pushing me!"

"I feel sleepy... Someone slap me."

*Smack!* *Smack!* *Smack!* In rapid succession.

"When I said slap me, I didn't mean all of you!"

* * *

><p>"Oh! Good morning, Ross. Laura. Raini. Calum." Eric bowed his head at each of them as they sat down to acknowledge that they were there. He gave them a strange look. "Um... Why are Laura and Ross looking half-asleep?" He pointed to the two actors, who were holding themselves up with their elbows.<p>

"Uh— what?" Laura blinked, then realized where she was and sat up straight. When Ross didn't take his cue and wake up, she kicked him under the table.

"Ow! Uh, I mean, good morning!" Ross waved to everyone in the room. "Good morning to you, and you, and you! Um, yeah! That's it."

"Okaaaay." Sally shot them all a strange look.

"They're just a bit tired, that's all," explained Raini hurriedly.

"Alright, then. This'll be easy, it's just you four. Actually, all we really needed was Ross and Laura, but Eric thought you could help," explained Sally.

"Help with what?" asked Calum, intrigued.

"We think that Laura and Ross are a bit awkward around each other, and their acting has some improvements that could be made by the other," explained Eric. "So, we thought that maybe they should get to know each other better. You know, hang out more, stuff like that."

"I like it!" Raini grinned.

"I'm in," said Calum.

"Laura, Ross, are you two okay with this?" Sally asked them gently.

Sleepily, they replied, "Yeah, sure," then went back to sleep.

"We should give them the day off; let them sleep," decided Eric. "They're too tired to do anything else, really."

"You're right." Sally sighed. "You four have the day off. Have fun!"

* * *

><p>"I'm taking Laura back to my place for the night," said Raini. "I guess Ross is going home?"<p>

"Yeah." Calum nodded. "Hey, why don't you take Laura to her house?"

"Um, sleepover! Yeah, that's it! We're having a sleepover**(3)**," explained Raini, smiling angelically the whole time.

"Well, I've gotta get Ross back home, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Calum!"

"Bye, Raini!"

* * *

><p>"What time is it?" Laura yawned as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. "And where am I?"<p>

"It's quarter past one, and you're at my house." Raini walked over and sat down. "You kind of fell asleep in the middle of the meeting, and so did Ross, so the directors decided to give us all the day off."

"Oop, sorry about that." Laura looked sheepish. "What was that meeting all about, anyway?"

"Well, you and Ross sorta agreed to spend more time with each other. For the next three months, you have to get to know each other, and by the end, you have to prove to the directors that you're comfortable around each other," explained Raini, handing Laura a manila envelope. "There's more information in there. Bottom line is, you and Ross were half-asleep when you agreed, so if you don't like it, you can always go and tell the directors 'No'."

Laura shook her head. "If Ross is willing to do it, then so am I." Her eyebrows went higher as she scanned the packet in the envelope. "And apparently we can help each other with aspects of our acting, too. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Let's go to the Lynch's and see what Ross thinks."

* * *

><p>"RAINI! LAURA!" Rydel<strong>(4)<strong> tackled them with a squeal.

"Hey," greeted Rocky**(4)**, looking amused at Rydel's reaction.

"Sorry about her," apologized Riker**(4)**, pulling Rydel to her feet.

"We've tried to put her on meds," Ratliff**(4)** confessed, his face completely serious.

"Ratliff!" Rydel slapped his arm.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ratliff held up his hands in surrender.

"So, what are you guys here for?" asked Rocky.

Laura held up the envelope. "I have to talk to Ross."

"Ooh, this sounds serious," joked Ryland**(4)**.

"Hi, Ryland," replied Laura, rubbing at her eyes.

"You look tired," commented Ryland.

Laura yawned. "I just had a nap. So, where's Ross?"

Riker snorted. "He's having his nap right now, actually. First room on the left!" he called over his shoulder as Laura went down the hallway.

"Ross?" She knocked on the door. "Ross? I'm coming in, okay? I hope you're dressed," she muttered. Twisting the knob, she peered in, finding the room completely dark. Annoyed, she flicked on the lights, revealing an asleep Ross— bare-chested and content. "Great," sighed Laura. "He's not dressed. Ross?" She poked his side. He grumbled and turned over. Rolling her eyes, she pinched him. "Ross!"

"Ow! Ah, what?" Ross came awake, rubbing his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings. "Oh, hey, Laura!" He grinned. Noticing that he was bare-chested, he reached for a shirt, but not before pointing down to his abs and telling her, "I got buffer."

"Uh, yeah." She raised her eyebrows. "Nice to know. So, did Dez tell you about what we agreed to?"

"What we agreed to? Laura, I basically slept through the cast meeting this morning, and when Dez dropped me off, I think I might've been drooling... Anyways, bottom line is, I have no idea what you're talking about." Ross rubbed his face, looking more awake with every sentence he said.

"Here." She handed him the envelope, watching him as he flipped through the papers. "Basically, we have to prove to the directors that we're comfortable around each other, and our deadline is the end of 2011."

"Three months with Laura Marano." Ross let out a whistle. "You up for it?"

"If you are." Laura raised her eyebrows. "Are you?"

Ross, of course, nodded enthusiastically. "Heck yeah! Now, can we go eat? I'm starving!"

"You're always starving."

"I'm a growing boy!"

"You're fifteen. Not exactly the age of a growing boy."

"Laura... Food? Please?"

*Sigh* "Your mom probably has something for you."

"YES!"

* * *

><p>"Hi, Mom." Ross grinned as he stole a plate of spaghetti from underneath his mother's nose.<p>

"Ross," she scolded gently.

He kissed her cheek**(5)**. "Love you!" He grinned, then moon-walked his way to the breakfast island/table/thingy. Right as he reached the breakfast island, he turned around and bumped into an unsuspecting Laura— spilling his food all over her white dress.

There was a stunned silence as everyone (Rocky, Ryland, Ratliff, Riker, Ross, Rydel, Mrs. Lynch, and Raini— yeah, everyone) held their breaths, waiting for Laura to explode.

"Oh, shit." The words escaped Ross's lips as he froze comically, shoulders hunched up in the middle of balancing the plate over Laura's chest. He leaped into action a second later, putting the plate down and grabbing a towel. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he apologized.

Laura could only let out a shocked gasp. A moment later, she, too, jumped into action, scooping handfuls of spaghetti off of her dress and onto the plate. "Ross," she sighed. "Can I have that towel?"

"Wait! I have a better idea!" He grinned, while the rest of his family groaned.

"Every time you have a better idea, it ends up getting us in some sort of crazy shit," complained Rocky.

"Boys! Language!" scolded Mrs. Lynch, sticking her hand out. "That'll be a dollar, Rocky. And don't think I've forgotten about you, Ross. A dollar from you, too**(6)**."

Giving each other looks of long-suffering, the boys each turned over a dollar to their mother.

"Thank you." Mrs. Lynch deposited the money into a glass jar, then turned to Ross. "Now, what was your 'better idea', Ross?"

"Aw, Mom! You just had to ask him that?" groaned Riker.

"Hey! I think my ideas are pretty good!" protested Ross.

"Hi, guys. Just a FYI, I'm still here. And covered in spaghetti, Ross." Laura glared pointedly at him. No need to sugar-coat it, or anything.

"Sorry!" he apologized again. "Here, let me take you to the bathroom and get the spaghetti off your clothes." He grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the bathroom.

"Wait, Ross! Shouldn't one of us girls do that for Laura?" asked Raini, but the bathroom door was already closed.

"Mom, are you sure you should trust a guy and a girl alone in a bathroom for so long?" Rydel gave her mother a skeptical look.

Mrs. Lynch shrugged. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"Knowing Ross? A while," replied Ratliff.

"Okay then, Ratliff. That was my question to answer, and you know it!" exclaimed Rydel.

"They're gonna start arguing again," predicted Ryland.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the bathroom with Ross and Laura...<p>

Ross was awkwardly reaching towards Laura's chest to wipe the spaghetti off her dress when she said, "Okay! Ross, stop it. It's fine; I can do it." She grabbed the wet washcloth from him and started scrubbing at her dress to get the spaghetti stains off of it.

With nothing to do, Ross leaned back against the sink and stared at the ground. Finally, he burst out, "I'm really sorry, Laura!"

She sighed, and looked up from the washcloth and her dress long enough to say, "It's fine. Really; it could have happened to anyone!"

In her earnesty, she managed to drop the washcloth, prompting Ross to go diving for it. "Here, I'll get it, it's the least I can do," he said as he reached down for it, while at the same time, Laura said,

"Nope, it's fine, I got it," and reached down for the washcloth.

The result? A loud, "Ow!" from both of them as they smacked foreheads with each other.

"Sorry!" Ross apologized again.

Laura just shook her head. "Ross," she sighed, "Can you please stop trying to help? Just for today?"

"Oh. Um, okay," he replied, looking slightly hurt.

There was an awkward silence as Laura tried and tried to scrub the spaghetti stains off her dress, while Ross stared at the ceiling. "Hey, Laura?" he started.

"What?"

"I'll make it up to you, I promise." His words were surprisingly sincere; delivered without a trace of his normal sunny-side-up nature.

"Oh. Um, thanks," replied Laura, clearly surprised.

"How 'bout this: for our second GTKEO activity, I'll take you to the bowling alley!" he exclaimed, suddenly reverting back to his normal self.

"GTKEO activity?" Laura furrowed her brow, bemused.

"Getting To Know Each Other activity," he explained.

"Wait, if it's our second GTKEO activity, then what's our first?" Laura set the washcloth down, finally starting to get into the idea of GTKEO.

"We're gonna go make food with R5**(4)** and Raini. Actually, I'm gonna get Calum to come over, too, and we can all make food!" He pulled his iPhone out from his pocket and tapped something on the screen. "Hey, Calum? Yeah, it's Ross. Duh; don't you have caller ID? Anyways, you should come over; we're making food. Yep, all of R5, Raini, and Laura, too! 'Kay, see you in ten." Sliding his phone back into his pocket, he turned to Laura. "Calum says he'll be here in ten. By the way, we should get you something else to wear. C'mon, let's go to my room." He reached for her hand.

She eyed his hand carefully. "You sure you're not going to spill something else on me?"

He groaned. "No. I promise."

"Okay..." Hesitantly, she took his hand, letting him pull her into his room.

"Here, try these on." Once they were in his room, he threw her a pair of gray sweatpants and a yellow hoodie.

She caught them, then stared at him pointedly.

"What?" He looked confused for a second, then realization dawned on him. "Oh! Um, I'll just leave so you can change." Hastily, he left the room.

After he was gone, Laura started to change out of her dress and into Ross's clothes. Briefly, she wondered why he didn't just let her borrow Rydel's clothes, but she figured the happy-go-lucky blonde wanted to help her by himself. He was really one-of-a-kind, she mused. That much, at least, she could say for sure, after knowing Ross for six months**(7)**.

"Lauuuuuura! Are you done yet?" asked Ross impatiently, tapping his fingers on the door from the other side.

"Relax, I'm ready." She stepped out of his room, coming disconcertingly close to his face.

"Sorry." He stepped back from her, then grabbed her arm. "C'mon, Calum's already here!" He pulled her down the hallway and to the living room, where the rest of R5, Raini, and Calum sat, waiting for them.

"Hey, Laura— whoa." Rocky stopped short. "Are you wearing Ross's clothes?"

"Yeah. He let me borrow them after he spilled spaghetti on me," explained Laura. She stopped as everyone in Ross's family (plus Ratliff) stared at her. "What?"

Riker was the first to break the silence. "Nothing, nothing." **(8)**

"Okaaaay, then." Laura gave them all weirded-out looks.

"You know what?" Ryland held up a finger thoughtfully. "We should do a re-make of Too Much Food**(9)** for the next R5 TV**(4)** episode! And this time, it'll include the main cast of Austin & Ally!"

Immediately, Rydel and Ratliff called out, "Appetizers!"

Simalarily, Raini and Calum claimed Soups & Salads, while Riker, Rocky, and Ryland took Entreés, which left Ross and Laura with Desserts.

"To the supermarket!" declared Ratliff, striking a superhero pose and galloping— literally— out the door, a laughing Rydel on his heels.

"I can take five or six people in the van," announced Riker.

"We'll go!" chorused Ross, Laura, Rocky, and Ryland.

"Calum'll drive me, right?" Raini gave the ginger in question a pointed look.

Upon receiving Raini's look, Calum quickly agreed. "Well, yeah, of course!"

"Alright, let's do this!" declared Riker. "Hey, Ryland?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget the camera."

"'Course not, bro. C'mon, gimme some credit. I manage everything around here."

"That's what we let you think, RyRy."

"Don't. Call me. That."

* * *

><p>"Food, food, food. Let's see what we'll get for food, shall we?" Rocky rubbed his hands together and spoke in the tone of an evil scientist, smiling creepily at the camera. A second later, both he and Ryland cracked up, guarenteeing that later, when they edited the video, they would find that the camera shook during this particular crack-up.<p>

"Guys, look! Trololololol Yogurt!" Riker gestured to the yogurt cup in his hand.

"We've gotta get some of that for Ratliff— oh, god." Rocky was choking on his own laughter.

Ryland panned the camera to show Riker doubled up in laughter. Twisting the camera so that it showed him, Ryland said, "So, we're at the grocery store now, and we found Trololololol Yogurt for Ratliff..." He pointed to the yogurt, then assured, "Ratliff's gonna love this. Really. Let's go spy on Raini and Calum, who are, by the way, Ross's co-stars on Austin & Ally."

"We're making potato and macaroni salad, with pick-your-own-dressing," confided Raini.

"Actually, she's making the salad. I'm making chilled fruit soup. She thinks hers is gonna be better." Calum rolled her eyes, then whispered conspiratorially to the camera, "It won't be. Mine will be way better."

"Calum! I can't reach that box! Come help me!" called Raini.

Calum snorted at the camera. "She's so short," he teased, then called back, "Coming!"

"Let's go see what Ratliff and Rydel are up to..." Ryland made his way to the doubled-up-in-laughter pair. "Hey, what's so funny, guys?"

In between laughs, Rydel managed to get out, "He— oh my god, he— I showed him the Trololololol Yogurt— and he goes, 'What flavors do they have it in?'"

Ratliff smirked at the camera, lifting his eyebrows in a mock attempt at _sexy_. "They actually have it in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and Original Trololololol," he informed them faux-seriously.

"Moving on..." Ryland raised his eyebrows at the camera. "Strange creatures, that's what they are."

"Go loiter near Ross and Laura," urged Ratliff.

Rydel laughed. "You want him to loiter? Ryland, don't listen to Ratliff; he's a bad example."

"Imma go loiter near Ross and Laura," decided Ryland.

"Where are they, anyways?" asked Ratliff.

"Probably in the Baking Needs aisle," replied Rydel. "Ryland, go spy on them."

"What, so now spying's better than loitering? Come on, Rydel!" complained Ratliff.

"Don't come on Rydel me," returned a miffed Rydel.

"Making my discreet exit," whispered Ryland to the camera.

He found Laura and Ross in the Baking Needs in the aisle, throwing popcorn at each other.

"Ack, Ross!" shrieked Laura, laughing all the same as she dodged a piece of popcorn.

"Where'd you get popcorn?" asked Ryland.

"Free samples," explained Ross. Barely a second later, he let out a surprised, "Hey!" as Laura dumped her cupful of popcorn on his head.

Dusting off her hands, Laura smiled satisfactorily and informed him, "That's for spilling spaghetti all over my dress."

Smirking, Ross dived for her, sending them both tumbling to the floor as he dumped the remains of his popcorn into her hair. "That was just for fun," he informed her as he picked a piece of popcorn out of her hair and popped it into his mouth.

"Ew," giggled Laura, beaming at the blonde. "This is fun," she declared.

"Yeah. I know." Ross grinned down at her.

"Please flirt somewhere else," groaned Ryland.

The pair on the floor pushed themselves up and said, "We're not flirting," while throwing popcorn from some hidden place at Ryland.

Ryland ducked as he protested. "Hey! I'm filming!"

"Clean up in Aisle 10, Baking Needs." The speakers mounted on the walls of the supermarket crackled to life.

"Oh, crap. That's our aisle! Go go go!" urged Ross, placing his hands around Laura's body (her feet held her precariously on the bottom level of the cart) on the cart and pushing it as fast as he could out of the aisle.

Ryland laughed as he ran after them, setting the camera shaking. "I don't think we'll be allowed back at this store for a while," he confided to the camera.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so we got everything we need, right? 'Cause we probably won't be allowed to go back to that store for a while.." Riker was trying to keep back a grin.<p>

"Yup, we even got Trololololol Yogurt," confirmed Ratliff, completely straight-faced.

There was a silence as everyone— having returned back to the Lynch's place— tried to hold back their grins. A second later, they all cracked up.

"Y'know, Mom might get a little mad that we're not allowed back at the store," realized Rocky.

"Actually, I bought extra groceries, just in case. Calum!" Raini snapped her fingers to signal the ginger to bring in the bags of groceries— there were so many that they towered over his head.

"Slave driver," accused Calum as he handed the groceries off to Ross at the door.

Raini shrugged. "You gotta do what you gotta do."

"Nice; planning ahead!" crowed Rydel as she slapped high-fives with Raini. "Now Mom'll be less annoyed."

"Rydel, where does the Perrier**(10)** go?" Ross called from behind a cabinet door.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Not in the cabinets, that's for sure. I'm guessing downstairs, in the basement?" She turned to Rydel for confirmation, nodding satisfactorily as Rydel nodded.

They spent a few minutes organizing the groceries, and then they met in the kitchen.

"Ready," said Riker.

"Set," continued Ratliff.

"Rock!" exclaimed Rydel, tapping the Play button on her iPhone, the song beginning to play all throughout the house through the speakers on the ceilings. And with that, the nine of them— Riker, Rocky, Ross, Ratliff, Rydel, Ryland, Laura, Calum, and Raini— started cooking and baking.

"We're gonna make chicken pie," confided Riker to the camera.

"And alfredo pasta," added Rocky.

"We're gonna have a feast," promised Ryland.

"We're making my amazing bacon-wrapped shrimp, but shhh! It's a secret," Ratliff whispered to the camera. "See, you gotta wrap the bacon around the shrimp first, then put it into this mini-grill thing**(11)** for fifteen minutes." Ratliff demonstrated as Rydel threw back her head and laughed.

"What are we making? Well, it's a secret," Ross told the camera seriously. "I have some mad skills in catching food in my mouth, so I'm gonna go do that while Laura does her thing in the kitchen."

"Oh, nuh-uh; I don't think so, blonde boy." Laura caught him by the back of his collar. "You are going to help me," she said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Blonde boy? Really. Is that the best you can come up with?" taunted Ross. "I've got so many better ones for you!"

Laura rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you do, but right now, you're going to help me."

Ross shrugged, like _what can you do?_ "Slave driver," he mouthed to the camera, pointing none-too-discreetly at Laura.

"Nope, sorry, I already used that one," Calum informed him.

"What is that heavenly smell?" asked Mrs. Lynch, sniffing her way to the kitchen.

"We'r doing a re-make of Too Much Food**(9)**," explained Ryland.

"Ah," Mrs. Lynch raised her eyebrows, "So we'll be eating dinner made by R5 and Austin & Ally?"

"You know it!" cheered Ross.

"Okay, then. I'll leave you kids here to make your food. Be ready by 6:30," reminded Mrs. Lynch, then left.

"Cool. Think you can make whatever you're making in one hour?" asked Ross.

Laura raised her eyebrows. "Do you think _we_ can make whatever _we're_ making in one hour?"

Ross shrugged, perfectly affable. "Depends on what we're making."

"Brownie cookies," decided Laura.

"Brownie cookies?" The question was echoed by everyone in the kitchen— all nine of them.

"Mmhm." Laura started pouring flour and sugar into a bowl, rummaging around in a grocery store bag as she explained. "You make regular brownies, then when you take them out of the oven, you cut them into shapes using cookie cutters. Plus, I have my own special recipe for brownies."

"Sound delicious," decided Rydel, turning back to the mini-grill**(11)** in front of her.

"Hey, Laura, catch!" Rocky threw a marshmallow at her, which she caught neatly in her mouth.

"Now that is skill!" exclaimed Riker, fist-bumping Laura. "Hey, Ross, think you can beat that?"

"Oh, I know I can!" Ross threw a Skittle into the air, and nimbly caught it in his mouth.

Laura raised her eyebrows, lips twitching as she tried to suppress a smile. "Good job, Ross. You get a gold star!"

"Seriously?" The expression on Ross's face was comically hopeful.

"No, but you can lick the spoon if you want," offered Laura.

"Sound good to me!" He hopped onto the counter and took the spoon from Laura. "Vif if really good," he said around the spoon.

"Thanks. Now, come help me!"

"Slave driver."

"We just went over this. You can't use that one, I already used it a while ago!"

* * *

><p>"This stuff is amazing," complimented Rydel, leaning over to whisper conspiratorially to Laura, "If I let my baby brother take you out on a date, would you give me the recipe to the brownies?" They were eating the R5-and-Austin-&amp;-Ally-cooked dinner &amp; dessert, and while Mr. and Mrs. Lynch had to leave (something about a complaint from the grocery store? Not that they would know anything about it...), the group still enjoyed their meal.<p>

Laura jerked away from Rydel, looking shocked. "Ross? Me? On a date? Um, no. We're just GTKEO."

"Is that some sort of code?" asked Ryland, a spoonful of Raini's salad halfway to his mouth.

"Yes, Ryland. It's a code," answered Laura dryly.

"Oh, okay," said Ryland, shoving the salad into his mouth, appeased. He didn't seem to notice the obvious sarcasm behind her words.

"Anyways," Rydel turned to Laura pointedly, "you and my lil' bro are perfect for each other! He never cooks, not even when he was supposed to be helping me cook in Too Much Food**(9)**. But today, he helped you cook! Can I plan the wedding? Ooh, can I be a bridesmaid?"

"I get to be the maid of honor," declared Raini.

Laura stared at the two, amused. "You're going to choose my future husband based on the fact that I'm the only person he's ever cooked for?" At their affirming nod, Laura mock-glared at them. "What kind of best friends are you? I have standards, you know."

"Ooh, ouch," Riker winced for his brother, had he actually been there.

"Speaking of, where is Ross?" asked Ratliff, letting out a burp as he did so.

"Ew," Rydel wrinkled her nose.

"He's looking for a gift bag for Laura," explained Calum.

Laura raised her eyebrows. "And why would he be doing that?"

Riker grinned. "He likes to give whoever comes over a gift bag."

"He's weird that way," offered Rocky, as way of explanation.

"Oooookay," Laura surveyed them all strangely. "Anyways, I guess I'd better go; it's getting late." She stood up to hug Rydel and Raini and Ryland and Rocky and Riker and Ratliff and Calum**(12)**.

Once she got to the door, she was greeted by the sight of Ross holding up a red goodie bag. "Here," he said, handin it to her. Inside was her dress (cleaned and dried), a stick of gum, five R5 guitar picks (all in different colors), five R5 wristbands (all in different colors), and a sheet of stickers.

"Thanks," said Laura, accepting the bag. "Here." She carefully peeled off a gold star from the sticker sheet and stuck it to Ross's cheek. "That's for the marshmallow catching," she informed him.

Grinning, Ross touched the sticker on his cheek. "Thanks."

"Today was fun," decided Laura.

"The next GTKEO activity's gonna be funner," promised Ross.

"More fun. Funner is not a word."

"Good_bye_, Laura."

"It's still not a word!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: (1) These are just little acting blips I picked up myself from watching the show. (2) I don't own Benodryl. No copyright infringement intended. (3) So... what's the secret that Raini's keeping? Find out soon; stay tuned. (4) Alright, this is going to be the longest annotation ever, but it's THE MOST IMPORTANT one. Ross Lynch plays Austin Moon, Laura Marano plays Ally Dawson, Calum Worthy plays Dez, and Raini Rodiguez plays Trish. Before Ross's role on Austin & Ally, he was in his family band, R5. He's still in this band. The band consists of his brothers and sisters, Rocky (age 17, I think), Riker (age 20), Rydel (age 18), and best-friend Ellington Ratliff (age 19, I think). Ryland (age 14) is also a member of the Lynch family, but he's R5's manager. They have a channel on YouTube, and they put up videos of their life, which they call R5 TV. To find out more about their life, and to check out their music, their links to YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, etc., go to R5rocks dot c o m. Since FanFiction's really obnoxious about links, you just have to type in R5rocks and then .c o m. Without the spaces. Oh, and Laura Marano's sister is Vanessa Marano, who plays one of the leads on the ABC Family TV show Switched At Birth. (5) Nope, not a romantic kiss. If you couldn't tell that, you don't even deserve to read this story. Kidding. Probably... (6) At the Lynch house, you're not allowed to swear. Every time you do, you have to pay one dollar to the spare change jar. I made this up, although MANY of the things I will mention in this story are actually true. Believe me. I'VE DONE MY RESEARH. (7) If it's September in the story, and they started filming Austin & Ally in March, it indeed has been six months. For those of you who don't know, TV shows usually shoot episodes nine months before they actually come out. For example, Austin & Ally just finished shooting their last live audience Friday episode for Season 1. Meaning that they're almost finished shooting Seaosn 1, yet only six episodes have been released so far, and the show is supposed to have a 21-episode count. Sadly, no talk of Austin & Ally being picked up for a second season has been hear of. (8) So, why was everyone so surprised to see Laura in Ross's clothes? Find out soon; stay tuned. (9) Too much Food is Episode 4 of R5 TV, which you can find on YouTube— it'd really be easier to just go to their website. In Too Much Food, the Lynch's cook dinner. (10) Perrier does not belong to me. No copyright infringment intended. (11) It's hard to explain what this mini-grill thing is. We have one at our house, and my dad makes bacon-wrapped shrimp using it. (12) Run-on sentence, much?**

**Alright. So, that's pretty much it. I already have twelve chapters planned out; there's probably going to be some twenty-plus chapters. I'm really excited for this. Hope you decide to join me on the ride!**

**~ Sabrina**


	2. Chapter 2

_Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Di-din-ding-ding-ding-dong!_

"Relax, I'm coming!" grumbled Laura, tumbling out of bed and shuffling downstairs to the door. Blearily, she rubbed at her eyes as she opened the door.

A fresh-looking Ross greeted her. "You really shouldn't open the door so easily like that," he told her, stepping in and looking around. "What if I'd been a serial killer or something?"

"Well then, I'm sure you would save me," retorted Laura dryly.

"That's me; knight in shining armor," he pointed to himself proudly. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any pancakes or waffles or breakfast lying around the house, would you?"

"No." Laura deadpanned. "We don't have any breakfast; my mother lets me starve to death."

"So... you'll make me breakfast?" Ross gave her a charming smile.

Laura rolled her eyes, a tired smile slipping out unheeded as she took in the sight of Ross, looking like a ray of sunshine in the yellow hoodie she had borrowed the day before. "Yes, you stupid _boy_, I'll make you breakfast."

"Awesome!" Ross bounded into the kitchen, sitting down and propping his head on his hands as he watched her putter around the kitchen. Abruptly, he asked, "You're not a morning person, are you?"

She turned around. "Well, no duh; didn't we already go over this yesterday morning?"

"I wasn't exactly in a state to go over anything yesterday morning, remember?"

"Whatever. I'm not a morning person; end of story." Turning the stove off, she frowned. "Ross, it's only five. Why did you wake me up so early?"

He shrugged. "I dunno; I wanted to see you?"

Surprised but touched, she replied, "Well, you would've been able to see me later at the studio**(1)**..."

He shrugged noncomittably, then his eyes found the plate of scrambled eggs and pancakes in Laura's hands, and he beamed, taking the plate from her. Mouth full with scrambled eggs, he exclaimed, "Vif if really good, Raura!"

"Thanks." A smile threatened to break out on Laura's face. "I'm gonna go get dressed; try not to spill anything."

He groaned. "You're never gonna let that spaghetti thing go, are you?"

"Nope."

* * *

><p>"Alright, I'm ready— Ross?" Laura stopped short upon seeing Ross surrounded in a cloud of bubbles.<p>

Poking his head through the bubbles, Ross said, "Ummm... I think I put too much dish soap into the sink."

Laura laughed. "No kidding. How are we gonna clean this up?"

Ross shrugged. "I just figured they'd disappear after a while..."

Shaking her head, Laura prepared herself to dive through the cloud of bubbles, when, just as Ross predicted, the bubbles started popping themselves. In no time at all, the cloud of bubbles had been reduced to an overflowing mass of bubbles in the sink. Shrugging, Laura touched a couple things on her iPhone and Just the Way I'm Not**(2)** started playing throughout the house on the speakers embedded in the ceiling. "Alright then, let's wash the dishes," she said, walking over to the sink. She wasn't prepared when Ross picked up a bunch of bubbles in his hand and threw them at her. "Ross!" she shrieked.

Grinning, he told her, "Pysche! I already washed the dishes."

"You're gonna get it, blonde boy," warned Laura.

Ross rolled his eyes. "Again with the blonde boy. Can't you come up with anything better?"

"I think," Laura reached up and dropped a handful of bubbles onto his head, "blonde boy has a nice ring to it."

Ross stilled, gaping at her. "You poured bubbles into my hair," he stated, still not quite believing it.

She nodded. "You threw bubbles at my shirt. Now I've gotta go change. I think we're even."

"Laura?"

"Hmm?"

"Catch." He dumped an armful of bubbles on top of her head, smirking as she gaped at him. "Now we're even."

And that was the beginning of the end.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, they were both breathing heavily from their bubble war. They were both covered in bubbles, and wore matching grins.<p>

"I so win," declared Ross.

"And we're so late," replied Laura lazily. Then, she jerked up. "Crap; we're so late! _Gogogogogo!_"

* * *

><p>"You're late," Simone, one of the many stage hands, reprimanded.<p>

"By thirty minutes," added Tony, one of Laura and Ross's on-set teachers**(3)**.

"Um... we kind of lost track of time," admitted Laura.

"Sorry," shrugged Ross.

Yvette, their other on-set teacher, smiled slyly at the pair. "You guys weren't doing anything PG-13 or above, now, were you?"

Immediately, Laura froze. "N-No! Of course not!" she protested, face flushing a lovely pink nevertheless.

"We're just friends. Close friends," Ross amended.

Yvette rolled her eyes and ruffled the blonde boy's hair. "I'm kidding, you guys. You two just seem to be acting different around each other."

"We're GTKEO," explained Ross and Laura in unison.

"Ah," Yvette smiled sagely, "I see."

"Did I miss something? 'Cause I don't understand what's going on," Tony informed them all.

Yvette reached up to ruffle the sandy-haired teacher's hair. "Sweetie, you're adorable."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

* * *

><p>Yvette and Tony weren't the only ones to pick up on the newfound friendship between the blonde boy and petite brunette. All throughout the day, people kept coming up to them, asking about their relationship.<p>

"Youngsters," snorted a particular stage hand. "Use protection!" he warned.

Ross face-palmed. "Oh my god. That was just..."

"Awful?" supplied Laura.

Ross nodded. "Awful. Oh, god. Imagine what it'd be like if we were actually dating."

"Even worse," agreed Laura. "Non-stop teasing from everyone— which, by the way, I don't know why they're doing today. We're not together or anything."

"Everyone's surprised at this new relaionship between you two," explained Sally Jensen, having had overheard them. "Now, get to the Sonic Boom set, guys, we're shooting the ladder scene."

"Gotcha." Ross gave her a two-finger salute, then latched his fingers onto Laura's wrist. "C'mon, we've gotta shoot that ladder scene."

"Do we have to?" Laura's voice is pleading. "Ross, I'd love you forever if you get me out of this..." She batted her eyelashes jokingly at him.

He laughed. "As if! I can't wait to shoot this scene!"

"Yeah, 'cause you're not the one falling off a ladder ten feet up," scoffed Laura, turning away from the blonde boy.

"At least you get to be caught by me," he winked, keeping a firm hold around her wrist as he dragged her to the Sonic Boom set.

"We're on a set! Everybody be quiet!" hollered Simone. Immediately, the whole set hushed. For such a short woman— she stood at a proud five feet flat— she sure commanded a lot of authority. In other words, everyone was scared to death by the fiery redhead known as Simone.

"Yo, Simone! Be quiet!"

Except for a certain stage hand.

"Pierre?" Simone called out sweetly.

"Yes, madamoiselle?" replied Pierre, just because it got under her skin. Both twenty-somethings, they were new stage hands with only a couple of years of experience. Although Pierre's family was French, he was a native born and bred Californian— all with the fluency and charm of the French.

"Shut your Parisian mouth," snapped Simone. French charm and fluency were no good against proud little Simone.

"Any day now," said Sally dryly.

Mollified, Simone and Pierre quieted.

"And... action!"

On the set, Laura was fixing a banner that read "Austin Moon: Performance this Saturday in Sonic Boom!" The camea zoomed in on her face, which was scrunched up in effort as she reached to coax one corner of the banner up.

"Just a little more," she told herself, in character as Ally.

"Hey, Ally!" Ross strode in, in character as Austin. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Just trying to fix this banner," Laura called down to him.

"That corner's really off," Ross pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, just let me fix it— whoa!"

At this point in the script, Ally was supposed to fall from the ladder, and Austin was supposed to catch her.

But on set, Laura just couldn't bring herself to fall. **(5)**

"Cut!" Sally yelled, and a buzz started up in the studio. Leaping off her director's chair, she strode over to where Laura had dismounted the ladder. "What's wrong, Laura?"

"Sorry, it won't happen again," promised Laura hastily.

But it did. It happened again and again and again, to the point where Sally just called for a ten-minute break.

"Chill out, Laura," advised Ross. He smiled broadly, holding out his arms. "I'll catch you."

Laura rolled her eyes at him as he followed her into her dressing room. "Ross, I have to go do that stunt again in ten minutes. Now is not the time for joking."

"'Kay," he agreed amiably, flopping face-down on one of her beanbags. "I swear, your dressing room is just so Zenny**(6)**," he declared, voice muffled by the beanbag.

"Zenny?" Laura repeated the word hesitantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's very Zen," he explained, sitting up. "It's just so... relaxing. Hey, maybe it'll help you with your stunt!"

Laura sighed. "I doubt it, but thanks anyway, Ross."

"Why are you so reluctant to do this stunt? Is it 'cause you don't trust me?" asked Ross, eyes sad and head cocked to one side, sitting cross-legged on the bean bag and looking very much like a woebegone puppy.

"No, of course not!" Laura was quick to defend. "I'm just... It's hard for me to put myself in such a vulnerable position, you know? I mean, c'mon, I'm falling from a ten-foot ladder, and you're supposed to catch me. Doesn't that make you nervous at all?"

Ross shrugged. "I'm strong," he said simply. Then, his eyes lit up. "I have an idea!"

Laura eyed him warily. "And what is this idea?"

"Let's practice the fall now, so you're not so nervous about it later!" exclaimed Ross, jumping off of his beanbag excitely.

"Um, where are you gonna find a ten-foot ladder?" asked Laura, but Ross was already pulling her up to her feet.

"We're just gonna do a little fall; you know, like a trust fall!" At her blank look, he continued. "C'mon, Laura, it'll be fun!"

"Fun," she repeated monotonously.

"Here, stand with your back to me like this," Ross gripped her arms tightly as he positioned her so that her back was facing him, "and fall."

"And you'll catch me?" Laura's voice was doubtful, and tinged with a hint of vulnerability.

"Well, duh." Ross rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see.

"Alright then." And she tipped her body backwards.

"Hey, Laura?" Ross said a moment later.

"Hmm?"

"You never actually fell."

That's right, Laura had caught herself before gravity could push her downwards into Ross's arms. "Sorry," she mumbled, preparing herself to fall again.

"Sooooo... any day now," Ross put in helpfully.

"Ross— please shut up," Laura asked nicely. Squeezing her eyes shut, she fell.

And caught herself.

Again.

And again.

And again.

"One last time!" Ross's voice rang out, exasperated.

"Sorry," Laura apologized again, now thouroughly embarrassed. She shut her eyes slowly, and gripped a fistful of her lacy shirt before tipping slowly backwards.

It was a picture-perfect trust fall. Ross caught her in his arms gently, being considerate enough to lower his arms a little, softening the fall. "You did it!" he cried, pushing her up and slapping high-fives with her.

"Yay!" She jumped in the air once, feeling young for once in her life. She turned to him excitedly. "Let's do it again!"

And so they did. This time, however, one of the buttons on his shirt got caught in the loops of her lacy shirt, and they remained unfortunately stuck for a little while, before Laura carefully removed the button.

"Alright, we're good," she declared, stepping back from him. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"Anytime," he replied, and she believed him. She really did.

* * *

><p>"And... action!"<p>

"Just a little more," Laura (as Ally) told herself.

"Hey, Ally!" Ross strode in (as Austin). "Whatcha doin'?"

"Just trying to fix this banner," Laura called down to him.

"That corner's really off," Ross pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, just let me fix it— whoa!" She fell, arms flailing like the script said to.

"Whoa!" Ross caught her in his arms. "Gotcha." He winked, then set her down.

"Thanks, Austin. That was close," she admitted.

"Anytime," he replied, and personally, Laura was reminded of the time they spent in her dressing room practicing trust falls.

"Hey, guys! Come look at this!" Raini's voice echoed at them from far away.

"What's Trish doing?" Laura pointed out the door.

Ross shrugged. "Let's go see."

"And cut!" Sally leaped out of her director's chair, beaming at Ross and Laura. "Great job, you guys! Laura, you especially. You got the fall right on the first try!" She slapped high-fives with the petite brunette. "Now, time for school**(3)**."

A groan escaped from Ross's lips as a smile made its way to Laura's face.

"I have Geometry," complained Ross.

Laura wrinkle her nose. "I hate proofs**(7)**," she told him, then smirked. "Ha, I have English!"

"You're such a nerd," teased Ross, but there was no real bite to his words; besides, everybody knew it was true**(8)**.

Laura hit his shoulder playfully. "Well, at least I'm not a dumb jock," she joked.

"Hey! I'm a dumb jock with a passion for music," sniffed Ross. "There's a difference!"

"Let's just go to class, Ross."

* * *

><p>"I brought you Chick-fil-a<strong>(9)<strong>!" announced Raini, setting a foam cup with the company's familiar logo down on the coffee table.

Laura glanced up to smile gratefully at her best friend. "I love you," she said seriously, taking the cup and sipping from it.

Raini wrinkled her nose at Laura's action. "You're the only person I know who actually likes to sip their smoothies, instead of drinking from a straw."

Laura shrugged and set the cup down. "Get out," she complained, "I've got studying to do."

Raini rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, you've got an hour left of school time**(3)**, and then you're scheduled to be on set again."

"Yeah, and I'm taking a test in ten minutes, so let me study!" she grumbled. "You're so lucky you and Calum don't have to go to school anymore**(10)**."

"Lies. You're a tried and true nerd, and you know it**(8)**," snorted Raini. "You probably feel bad 'cause me and Calum don't need to go to school."

"Calum and I," Laura corrected automatically.

"Exactly my point," replied Raini, flopping down on a beanbag. "My god, your room is so Zen**(6)**," she remarked.

Laura made a face. "Everyone keeps saying that. Like, seriously, what is up with that?"

"Which reminds me," Raini sat up, "Someone told me you and Ross were practicing trust falls in here? What is that all about?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Long story short, I couldn't do the falling-off-the-ladder stunt, so Ross helped me. In the end, I got it right on the first try."

Raini whistled. "Impressive. It took me a week to do my first stunt**(5)**. And you got it in ten minutes with Ross!"

Laura shrugged, a smile gracing her face as she thought of the blonde boy. "He's weird," she informed Raini. "And special." She tacked it on almost as an after-thought, but Raini caught it. Laura normally didn't let people in easily, and for her to admit that Ross was weird but special mean that he was slowly but surely worming his way into her heart. As much as Raini wanted to say something, she didn't. She knew that she herself had a special place in Laura's heart as best friend, and Calum was there, too, as fellow close/best friend. But Ross was hovering on the edges, and Raini had a feeling that sooner or later, Ross was going to wind up as a fellow best friend to Laura, and if fate permitted, perhaps something more. Raini could only hope for sooner rather than later.

* * *

><p>"Alright guys, last scene and then you can all go home!" Sally smiled as a cheer went up at her words.<p>

"Let's do this!" Simone's eyes shone. This was what she lived for— the harried excitement, the occasional disaster averted, and the rush she got from being on set, not nessecarily as an actor, but as a stage hand.

"Little excited, aren't we?" Pierre grinned at her.

Simone rolled her eyes as Sally yelled, "Action!", discreetly flipping Pierre off.

"It's okay, I get a rush from it, too," Pierre whispered in her ear.

"We're on a set. Be quiet," she reprimanded him.

"Cut! That's a wrap, folks!" Calum grinned at the whole set. Sally had let him end the scene, something he'd always wanted to do.

"We're a TV show, Calum, not a movie," reminded Laura, walking off the set.

"You," Ross slung an arm around Laura's shoulders, "were amazing, as always."

Laura smiled up at him. "I do try," she said faux-modestly.

"No, seriously. That fall? It was absolutely perfect. Whoever taught you how to fall deserves an award," declared Ross. In the episode that they had just shot, Laura was supposed to fall several times, but the ladder fall was the only big fall.

"I guess it's just a coincidence that you were the one who taught me how to fall," Laura replied dryly. "But still, here." She grabbed an apple off a table and handed it to him. "Eat that, it's good for you."

He shrugged, biting down into the apple crisply. "It's good," he said, around a mouthful of apple.

Laura rolled her eyes. "It's an apple. It wouldn't be not good."

"I'm pretty sure there's something grammatically incorrect about that," he said confidently.

"And I'm pretty sure you just had Enlgish; there's no way the Ross we all know and love would ever have said anything like that otherwise," returned Laura.

"Ouch, burn." He pretended to wince. They continued to banter like that, all the way to their dressing rooms.

"Nice to see you guys getting along," joked Calum.

Laura and Ross scoffed in unison. "We always got along."

"Maybe you did, but you were always very awkward with it," replied the ginger.

"Were we really?" Laura turned to Ross, a shocked expression on her face.

He contemplated it for a moment. "Hmm, I guess. I remember this one time when we had a potluck dinner and instead of complimenting you on your dish— what was it, macaroni and cheese?—, I spilled cranberry juice on your top."

Laura wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Cranberry juice." Then her eyes widened. "Hey! I remember that!" Eyes narrowing, she shoved him to the side.

"What?" He stumbled, then returned to her side. "What did I do?"

Crossing her arms haughtily, she replied, "You spilled cranberry juic on me once. Then spaghetti. And bubbles. Who knows what's next?"

Ross opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off.

"Hey hey hey! It's the Austin & Ally gang!" Audrey Whitby burst into their conversation. Eyes bright, she handed Ross a pink and blue smoothie concoction. "I just finished filming for the day, and swung by Bubbles**(11)** to get you a smoothie! It's coconut, your favorite."

"Oh. Um, thanks." He took the plastic cup from her. "My favorite!" He gestured awkwardly with it.

Rolling his eyes, Calum grabbed the smoothie. "Don't worry, Audrey. It's got nothing to do with you. Ross here jut hates letting people down, and you got him a smoothie that he doesn't really like."

"Oh, I'll take it! Thanks, Audrey!" Laura took the smoothie from Calum, sipping from it.

Ross wrinkled his nose. "You sip your smoothies?"

Laura nodded. "Yup. This is my favorite!"

"Oh, well, I'm glad you like it." Audrey forced out a smile.

"And, um, for future reference, Ross's favorite smoothie flavor is watermelon. And if you could get it food-colored yellow, it'd be even better," suggested Laura.

"Thanks!" Audrey brightened up again. With a cheery wave over her shoulder, she dashed out the building with a frantic whisper-shout of, "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"

"How did you know my favorite smoothie flavor was watermelon-food-colored-yellow?" asked Ross, curious.

Laura scoffed. "Please. I've been best friends with your sister for half a year now, and you know how she babbles on about everything and anything." Briefly, she paused to wave goodbye to Calum as they all exited the building.

Ross nodded in agreement as Laura sipped her smoothie and subsquently curled her lip in distaste. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Honestly, I hate coconut anything," admitted Laura.

"Then why'd you take the smoothie? Here, I'll throw it out for you." Ross took the aforementioned smoothie from her, and made to throw it into the trash can, but Laura stopped him.

"No!" she cried, grabbing the smoothie out of his hands.

"What?" He looked concerned.

Laura sighed. "I took the smoothie from Calum 'cause I didn't want Audrey to feel bad. She already looked like somebody had kicked her puppy when Calum told her you didn't like coconut."

"Still doesn't explain why you wouldn't let me throw the smoothie out; she's gone!" exclaimed Ross.

"Hey, there are people in the world who are starving. Don't just throw away food like that," reprimanded Laura, sipping the smoothie slowly.

Ross observed her for a second. "You're really strange," he told her. "But I like it."

"Thanks." She smiled at him.

There was a moment of silence, then he said, "So why do you think Audrey went through all the trouble of getting me a smoothie?"

At this, Laura laughed, reaching up to ruffle the blonde boy's hair. "You're adorable," she told him.

"Thanks, and I know, but you didn't answer my question!" He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even more.

"Obviously she likes you," said Laura in a duh tone of voice.

Ross looked truly surprised. "Really?" He pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Really." Laura poked him in the chest. "You."

"Huh. Audrey Whitby likes me. Well that's just weird."

"Ross, be nice."

"Laura, be quiet," he mocked. With a surprised yelp, he stumbled.

Dusting her hands off primly (she had just hooked her leg around Ross's and deftly and effectively tripped him), she smirked, looking extremely pleased with herself. "Oh, Ross!" She fluttered her hand to her chest dramatically. "Are you alright?" Another dramatic flutter, then she swooned into his arms.

Ross caught her smoothly. "Well, that was a good trust-fall."

Laura nodded, pushing herself up out of his arms, but he held her back. "What?" she asked.

"Revenge," was his simple reply. He then proceeded to tickle her mercilessly.

Laughing helplessly, Laura gapsed out, "Ross... oh my god, stop!... I'm gonna die!"

"Of laughter?" Finally consenting, Ross set Laura up back on her feet. "You're so short," mused Ross.

Laura drew herself up to her full height and said, "I'm just... vertically challenged." At Ross's snort, she huffed indignantly and started to march away.

"Laura, wait!" Ross grabbed her wrist. "Tomorrow, 8 AM? I'll pick you up; we're going to the bowling alley."

Nodding, she smiled brightly. "8 it is. Oh, and Ross?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't come over for breakfast this time."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Whew! Well, now that that's over... On to the annotations!**

**(1) The studio is where they shoot Austin & Ally. (2) Just the Way I'm Not by All Time Low does not belong to me. No copyright infringement intended. (3) Alright, for child actors (people who are legally minors), the law requires them to still get their full eight hours (is it eight? I think it is...) of schooling in everyday. So, since child actors work on the same days as they're supposed to go to school, they have on-set teachers that teach them on set in intervals, hence the name, on-set teachers. (4) I guess I skipped this number...? (5) Now, I know that actors usually have stunt doubles to do their stunts. And while I'm not sure they have the same kind of procedure for stunts on movies (which is where actors have stunt doubles, unless they're willing to do their own stunts) as on TV shows, I know they wouldn't let Laura fall from a ten-foot ladder without a harness or something. But for the sake of the story, we're going to pretend Laura doesn't have a stunt double or any extra safety precautions. (6) This is something I saw on an Austin & Ally interview. Calum Worthy described Laura Marano's dressing room as "very Zen", whereas Ross's "has a lot of candy", and Raini "has a XBox". (7) This is something Laura says in an interview. She hates doing proofs in geometry. Actually, you guys should go check it out; search "KTLA Austin and Ally interview" and it should pop right up. The interview is hilarious; Ross Lynch dances to "I'm Sexy and I Know It" in it. (8) Now, don't go thinking this is offensive; Laura herself admits that she's a nerd, she cares so much and obsessively about her grades. (9) Chick-fil-a is the resturant that a lot of the young (as in relatively young— up to 18) Disney and Nickelodeon stars go to. No copyright infringement intended. (10) In real life, Raini is 19 and Calum is 21, but for the sake of my story, let's say they're both 18. So, after 18, you are not legally obliged to go to school, and as far as I'm aware, Calum and Raini are not in college. (11) Bubbles is just a fictional smoothie store I made up. If it's a real store, then no copyright infringement intended.**

**Wow, that was a lot of annotations. They'll ease up as we get further into the story; promise. Anyways, plaza check out MY WORDPRESS for updating info; my newest post is about updated for THIS ONE'S FOR KEEPS, OOO, and everything else. Also, please visit MY PROFILE to vote for my new username!**

**And that's it, folks!**

**~ Sabrina**

**P.S. Review challenge: Do any of you watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians? I just started, and I gotta say, I'm hooked. Who's your favorite character? Mine's Kendall Jenner. Also, go check out Ross's family band, R5, and that interview I mentioned in the annotations!**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Ross woke up with a smile on his face. Today he would be going to the bowling alley with Laura.

At breakfast, Rocky prodded him suspiciously. "Mom?" he called. "I think there's something wrong with Ross, he's not eating his cereal!"

"I'm sure he's fine!" Mrs. Lynch called back.

"But you know how he is with his Lucky Charms cereal**(1)**! He always eats it all; it's like his personal brand of crack!"

"What?" Mrs. Lynch rushed in, looking comically concerned. "You didn't say it was _Lucky Charms_ cereal**(1)**!"

"I'm fine, guys. Just a little spacey's all. I was thinking about what Laura and I are going to do on our second GTKEO activity. I know I told her we were going to the bowling alley, but... Is that too simple?" Ross turned to them questioningly.

Mrs. Lynch looked honestly shocked. She adopted a motherly sort of smile. "It's perfect, Ross. I can't believe you're pushing aside Lucky Charms(1) in favor of Laura! Oh, that's just too cute..."

"Um, thanks? I guess..." Ross hopped down from the counter and made his way down the hallway. "See you later!" he called over his shoulder as he left.

The whole time he was walking to Laura's house, he was smiling and helping out random passerbys with their daily nuisances. As he passed a bakery store window, he stopped to check his reflection in the window. However, his attention was quickly captured by the display of croissants and various other pastries in the window. Quickly, he popped into the bakery and bought a box of assorted treats: chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate croissants, normal croissants glazed and dusted with sugar, cake pops, and whipped-cream-and-blueberries-and-raspberries-and-blackberries-on-sweetened-graham-cracker-crust. He ended up buying two full boxes of treats, and with a satisfied smile, he exited the store.

Humming under his breath, he pressed the doorbell to Laura's house. A few moments later, Mrs. Marano opened the door. "Hi," greeted Ross. "Is Laura here?"

Mrs. Marano shook her head. "I have no idea where she is. You could ask Raini, though. She probably knows where that wayward daughter of mine is."

Ross, more than a little shocked by Mrs. Marano's tone towards her own daughter (and the fact that she didn't know where her daughter was), could only nod and thank her. He turned around and started walking out their driveway, when Mrs. Marano called out, "Tell her she has an important function to go to for her sister!"

Ross waved a hand behind him in acknowledgement, then disappeared around the corner.

* * *

><p><em>Knock. Knock. Knockity-knock-knock—<em>

The door swung open. Ross's hand was frozen in midair, prepared to knock on the door again. An agitated Raini greeted him.

"Hey, Ross— no, Calum, DON'T BUY HER CARAMEL-FLAVORED ICE CREAM!" Raini ushered a confused-looking Ross in. "Oh my god, Calum, I'm hanging up." And true to her word, she promptly pressed the END button, rather angrily. "So, what's up?" she asked Ross brightly.

Ross, looking slightly scared, sat down slowly on a couch. "I went to Laura's house to pick her up so we could go to the bowling ally, but her mom answered the door and told me she wasn't at home. Also, she had no idea where her own daughter was. So, she redirected me to you. If you know where she is, can you give me an address or something?" He sat, waiting expectantly for Raini to give him directions to wherever Laura was. Instead, she let out an angry sigh.

"The nerve of that woman..." She muttered hotly.

"What?"

"Nothing!" She bit her lip, eyes dropping to the phone she had in her lap. "Oh yeah! That was Calum on the phone, by the way. He was getting a present for this girl that he likes— of course, he won't tell me who it is... Anyways, he was trying to find a present for her, and he was all 'Hey, maybe I should get her caramel-flavored ice cream!' He loves anything caramel, so of course he though his girl would like it too... I was like 'No! Don't get her caramel-flavored ice cream, you idiot! Not everybody likes caramel!' Mainly me, but there are definitely people in this world who don't like caramel... In the end I got so frustrated with him I hung up. And then I started talking to you." Raini shrugged, like _what can you do?_

"So... you don't know where Laura is?" Ross still looked confused, trying to pick out the important information from Raini's long rant.

"Oh, is that what you wanted? Here." Raini scribbled down an address in her bubbly, rounded handwriting. "Why didn't you just say so?" She handed the slip of paper to Ross.

Ross rolled his eyes to heaven.

Oh, good lord.

* * *

><p>"145th Street..." Ross peered at the building in front of him. Shrugging, he opened the glass door and stepped in. "If Raini gave me a fake address..." he muttered, while ascending the free-floating stairs. "Laura?" he called out. He was met with silence. But wait... Ah! He heard music coming from down the glass hall. He walked down the hall, sneakers squeaking against what looked like freshly polished glass- wait,<em> glass?<em>- floors.

The music got louder as he approached a room with a heavy-looking glass door barring his entrance. He pushed the door open and heard it close gently behind him as he stared in shock and awe. In the room, which looked to be a giant, airy dance studio, Cee Lo Green's Wildflower**(2)** was blasting on full volume. In the center of the dance floor, Laura was performing what looked like a complicated hip-hop dance. She was dressed in hip-hop sneakers, red dancer's spandex, and a black leotard. All in all, she looked like a very serious dancer— a fact that Ross was completely unaware of five seconds ago.

The song finished and Laura ended in a painful-looking leg-lift behind her head. Her leg was straight, her toes were pointed, and her supporting leg was not buckling under imbalance. She looked professional. Extremely so. With a sigh, Laura jogged over to the other side of the studio and turned the music off. She picked up a water bottle from the ground and chugged it. Finally, she turned around and nearly spit out her water.

"_Ross?_" she spluttered. "What are you doing here?"

Ross, who had been leaning against a wall, pushed himself off said wall and started walking towards Laura. Shrugging, he said, "Well, I went to your house at 8, but your mom said she didn't know where you were and redirected me to Raini. Then, after I got the address for this place from Raini— which took a long time, by the way— I came here. So, what is this place?"

Laura sighed and beckoned him onto the dance floor. She started a series of ballet technique combos, talking as the music— some 17th century classical piece— played. "Well, this place is basically my home. Second home. Whatever. It has a dance studio," she grande-plied three times, "a recording studio," she paused in the middle of her relevé, holding the position, "and everything else I need." She came back down from her relevé and tendu-ed to the back in fourth position three times. For the rest of her technique combos, she was silent, and Ross could only watch in admiration as she executed the moves gracefully. When she was done, she jogged over to a monochrome stand on the other side of the studio and turned the music off on the touch-screen top. She jogged back over to where Ross was standing, in the middle of the dance floor, and started talking. "This place... It's probably where I spend seventy-five percent of my time away from work and school. I mean, I have food here, and I have a bedroom here stocked with clothes and stuff. I've been coming here since I was eleven. My— um, father designed the place— he was an architect— and he hired some contractors to build it. By the time I was ten, it was finished. Then I got it from him. It was probably the only good thing he ever did for me."

Ross nodded, choosing not to ask about her last statement. He knew that Laura's father did not live with them— maybe her parents were divorced? To be honest, Ross didn't know much about Laura's family, or even Laura herself. At that moment, he resolved to get to know her better. And that thought, of course, brought him back to the matter at hand— their second GTKEO activity: the bowling alley. "So, I was thinking we should go to the bowling alley today," he said, hoping she couldn't detect the apprehensiveness behind his smile.

She nodded. "Sure. Just let me get some food first."

"It's cool, I brought food." From behind his back, Ross drew out the two plastic bags of pastries. Opening one box, he said, "Ta-da! Treats from my new favorite bakery!"

Laura's eyes widened. "Wow, that's really nice of you! Is it the bakery on Village Street?"

Ross nodded. "How'd you know that?"

"It's my favorite bakery," explained Laura, picking up a cake pop from the box and taking a bite out of it. "Silver Linings, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Ross himself dug in and started munching on a chocolate croissant. "Vif if amaving," he said, through a mouthful of croissant.

Laura nodded amusedly. "I bet it is." She decided not to mention to him the light dusting of sugar on his cheek. How it got there, she had no idea; he hadn't exactly been stuffing his face.

"Okay, I'm good to go." Dusting off his hands, he stood up, pulling Laura up along with him. "Let's go bowling."

"I'm totally gonna win."

"Yeah, keep dreaming."

"Ross, you can believe whatever you want, but remember, the best part of the believe is the lie."

"..."

* * *

><p>"Good morning and welcome to Fairway Bowling. How may I help you?" the guy at the desk asked them boredly.<p>

"We'd like to have two pairs of bowling shoes, please," Laura asked politely.

"What size?" As Laura and Ross gave their shoe sizes, the front doors swung open and a wave of paparazzi came flooding in.

"Oh my god." Laura could barely believe her eyes. She thought that since she was a Disney star, the paparazzi should only be around when they were supposed to, in order to portray her in the best, most kid-friendly way possible, right?

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," groaned Ross, turning his back to the paparazzi, as if that would make them magically disappear.

"No, Ross, turn around." Laura grabbed his arm and physically turned him around. "The best way to deal with paparazzi? Face them head-on."

Ross raised an eyebrow. "And you know this how?"

"C'mon, Ross, didn't you read up on me before we met? I was on a couple of TV shows, I starred in a couple of movies, and my sister is Vanessa Marano. I got thrown into the spotlight at an early age." Laura smiled as the paparazzi started snapping pictures. "Put your arm around my waist," she hissed to Ross.

With a confused look on his face, he complied. "Why? And no, I didn't read up on you. Did you read up on us?"

"Standard photo protocol," Laura answered, addressing his first question. "As for the reading; duh! You're supposed to read up on your cast mates, it give you an ice breaker, and you can assess their abilities." She smiled for a JustJared**(3)** camera as she continued, "Shouldn't you know all this stuff? I mean, your siblings are in some pretty well-known productions, aren't they?" (Read: Riker's a Warbler on Glee.)

Ross grinned at the camera, drawing Laura closer to him so he could reply, "Yeah, I guess. But still, they're my siblings. Not me. They never told me about this stuff."

"Well then, I guess you've got a lot to learn," returned Laura smartly. The rapid-fire flashing of cameras started to fade out, and she prepared to answer some questions.

"Hey, Laura!" A JustJared**(3)** reporter grabbed her attention by shoving a microphone in her face. "What are you guys doing out here?"

"Bowling," she replied simply.

"Cool, cool! Now, Ross, are you a good bowler?" The reporter turned to Ross.

He shrugged modestly. "I try my best."

Laura smiled and shoved him playfully. "So conceited," she whispered, to the reporter.

"Hey!" protested Ross, returning to Laura's side. "I totally heard that," he informed her.

The reporter just laughed. "Well, thanks, guys! This'll be going into an article soon— just pictures and words, no video. Now, the guy at the desk is glaring at us, so we're just going to make our discreet exit..." He and the rest of the paparazzi mob slowly backed out and away from the bowling joint. He might've gotten the story first, and the other reporters might resent him for that, but as any good paparazzi knows, the single most terrifying thing in the world is not going back to your boss empty-handed and with no story, but rather an angry civilian who owns the place you're snapping pictures of.

As soon as they were all gone, Ross joked, "So, tell me about standard photo protocol."

"There's not only standard photo protocol, but also standard interview protocol, standard fan protocol, etcetera." Laura grinned. "You've got a lot to learn, but first, I'm going to win at bowling."

"You're on. Loser has to go to set tomorrow in a chicken costume!"

"Okay— wait, chicken costume?"

"Oh yeah."

* * *

><p>"Ha! I win!" Laura grinned triumphantly.<p>

Ross was standing hunched over, hands on his knees, over exaggerating his loss. "Man, you are competitive!" he exclaimed, sounding surprised. Straightening up, he added, "And good at bowling!"

Laura shrugged. "You either got it or you don't."

"Well, I guess that means I'll be going to set in a chicken costume tomorrow..." Ross sighed, shrugging like _what can you do?_

It was late now, and though Laura didn't have any family dinner obligations, she knew that Ross and his tight-knit family did. "C'mon," she said, tilting her head towards the door. "Let's go."

"I'll walk you home, but you have to tell me about standard photo, interview, and fan protocol." Ross smirked. "If there even is such a thing."

"Oh, believe me, there is," promised Laura as they walked out onto the street. October in LA isn't cold, per se— at least, not to Ross, who grew up in Littleton, Colorado**(4)**—, but to Laura, a native of LA(4), it was chilly. There was a night breeze blowing, and Laura was dressed in only jean-shorts and a tank top. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly as they walked.

"So, tell me about it." Ross draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him so that she could absorb some of his body heat. For reasons she could not fathom, Ross's body was perpetually warm; like her own personal heater.

"Standard photo protocol," she started. "If the paparazzi get up close and personal with you, just smile and pose. If they're far away, doing that ninja-picture-snapping thing where they, like, camouflage themselves, then just act natural. If there's a guy and girl together and the cameras come close, the guy has to put their arm around the girl. It just looks better," she explained.

"Ninja-picture-snapping thing?" Ross laughed, while Laura blushed hotly.

"Shut up! Do you want to know about standard interview protocol or not?" she huffed. At Ross's amused nod, she continued. "Don't give away any details that you're not allowed to give away. Movies, TV shows, albums— it's all the same. Until you're given the 'okay', you can't say anything. Also, be yourself. Like you and me, joking around back there. People love that kind of stuff. Just— don't be too much of yourself."

"Be yourself, but not too much of yourself?" Ross shook his head. "Laura, you know, I've found it's easier to just go with the flow. And show off a little."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Standard fan protocol. If you give one of them an autograph, you have to give all of them an autograph, unless you're at a premier or something, in which case there are too many people to take pictures with and give autographs to."

Ross could only blink at her. "That doesn't sound like a lot of fun. You should enjoy yourself, Laura. Being famous? It's a good life."

"If you say the right things, wear the right clothes, act the right way, and know the right people," Laura argued back.

Ross held up his hands in mock defense. "Okay, okay! I'm not gonna argue with you, but I'm gonna make you see: this is fun."

Laura shrugged, but there was a gleam in her eyes. "Try your best," she challenged. Looking up, she sighed. "And, we're home." Her voice had a disappointed tone to it, as if she would miss Ross's arms around her shoulders, keeping her warm, and his sunny smile, and his playful banter. Oh well, all good things must end, right? "Thanks for today," she said, surprised to find that she genuinely meant it, despite getting attacked by paparazzi.

Ross smiled. "No problem. So, is your family home?" He motioned towards the lights on in Laura's house.

Laura shook her head. "They probably just forgot to turn the lights off," she explained, inserting her key into the door and twisting it. The door swung open, to reveal an empty foyer. "It's just dinner by myself tonight. Par-_tay_!" she joked weakly.

Ross hesitated to ask, "Is it always like this? Dinner by yourself, I mean."

Laura nodded. "We try to eat together sometimes, but most of the time, it doesn't work out. Christmas and Thanksgiving, though, we're always together, so at least we have that." She smiled weakly.

"Oh." Ross was momentarily stunned into silence. He couldn't imagine life without his family around, and it seemed like Laura's life was exactly that. Suddenly he wanted to stay with her, just for that night. At least she'd have some company. He spoke up. "Hey, Laura?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel about me coming in with you for dinner tonight?"

Laura looked genuinely surprised. "Really?"

Ross nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! You can cook and I'll eat."

Laura rolled her eyes with a smile. "Come on in."

They entered through the door and the foyer, in all of its marbled glory, lit up by the chandelier hanging up in the ceiling of the second floor. However pretty it was, the house felt cold and empty, like it needed some people to warm it up.

Laura noticed Ross staring at the foyer and sighed. "Looks fancy, doesn't it? Mom always wanted to appear rich, famous, and elegant. Now she's got all those things, because of Vanessa and me."

"What do you mean?" Ross followed her as they made their way to the kitchen.

"Take a look at what Vanessa and I do. We love it, and we get paid loads for it. And since she's our mom, we give her the big house, the feeling of security, and a stable life. It's everything we didn't have ten years ago." There was an obvious finality in her tone, and although Ross was aching to know more, he held himself back, knowing that he shouldn't push whatever fragile truce he had created with Laura. The thing was, she had always been rather removed from him, and it wasn't until they started this GTKEO thing that they actually, well, got to know each other.

The only thing he could think to say that was appropriate at the moment was, "So, what's for dinner?"

* * *

><p>After dinner, Ross tried to convince Laura that watching Toddlers and Tiaras<strong>(5)<strong> would not be traumatizing, dragging her to the TV while he nagged, persuaded, and made a pain in the ass of himself.

"C'mon, please? I promise I'll hold your hand if you get scared," Ross said solemnly.

Laughing, Laura shook her head, even as Ross tugged insistently on her hand. "No is no- _whoa!_" She toppled forward with him onto the couch. They ended up tangled together in a mess of limbs.

Ross shrugged innocently, reaching across her to grab the remote, turn on the TV, and turn to TLC**(5)**, where Toddlers and Tiaras was currently playing. "Guess I just don't know my own strength," he said, referring to when he pulled on her hand, hard, and caused her to land on the couch with him.

Laura rolled her eyes and poked his bicep. "Liar. You just wanted me to watch this crazy reality show."

"Maybe a little bit." Ross smirked. "But you're here, aren't you? And we are going to watch Toddlers and Tiaras. It's ridiculously funny!"

"And traumatizing."

"I promise it's not as bad as you think it is. I can't say it's not traumatizing because it might be."

"I'm holding you to that promise."

Half an hour later, the episode was over, and Laura was sitting, frozen, on the edge of the couch. "That- that was just... traumatizing," she finished truthfully.

"Oh, c'mon, it wasn't that bad..." Ross trailed off as he spotted the look on her face, which was bordering on horror.

"Are you kidding me? I've just lost all the faith that I ever had in good, nurturing mothers!" Laura lifted a hand to her forehead dramatically and swooned. "I'm scarred, Ross. Scarred for life."

Ross rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her behavior. "I'm sure you'll be fine," he told her, more than a hint of patronizing in his tone.

"And you," Laura got up from the couch and stretched, "have to get going if you're going to sleep at all tonight."

Ross groaned. "But _Lauraaaaaa_! Sleep is overrated." At her stern look, her gathered himself up from her couch and sighed. "What if you get lonely?"

Laura looked genuinely surprised. "Lonely?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Ross, I've been by myself most nights..." She trailed off, then gasped. "Is that why you don't want to leave? Because you're worried that I'll be _lonely?_" Then she smiled slowly, reaching a hand out to smooth Ross's hair down. "Hey," she said softly. "I'll be fine. But thank you for caring."

"Hmm... okay..." Ross yawned, his eyelids drooping, already half-asleep.

Laura laughed softly, taking his hand and leading him to the door. "C'mon, sleepyhead. Can I trust you to get home by yourself without falling asleep in the middle of the street?"

Ross nodded, grinning sleepily. He wrapped an arm around Laura in a tight hug, resting his head on top of hers. "G'night, Laura."

"'Night, Ross." After a moment, Laura twitched. "Hey... You gonna let me go or what?"

He laughed, releasing her from the circle of his arms. He observed her for a moment, then mumbled a soft, "Bye, Laura," as he walked off into the night, never once looking back, but his mind on the very girl who was lit up in the doorway that was disappearing behind him.

**A/N: Well, that's it! Phew, this took me quite a while (blame my procrastination). I won't rambled on like usual, to find out my reasons for not updating and info on your favorite things (Austin & Ally, the cast of Austin & Ally, and, of course, ME!), go to my WordPress. You can get directions to it on my profile (as well as a link that's currently not working because is trying to stop spammers), or just type "anythingandeverything.99 (dot) wordpress (dot) com" in the address bar. My reasons for not updating and such are under the post "Please Don't Throw the Tomatoes..."**

**(1) I don't own Lucky Charms, etcetera etcetera. No copyright infringement intended. (2) That's a great song, but it doesn't belong to me. No copyright infringement intended. (3) JustJared doesn't belong to me (it's a paparazzi site, essentially, like BOP and Tigerbeat); no copyright infringement intended. (4) So yeah, Ross and his family lived in Colorado until fall of 2007, when they moved to LA. Laura is a native of LA, Calum Worthy's Canadian, and Raini Rodriguez was born and raised in Texas. (5) Toddlers and Tiaras, which is a show on TLC, does not belong to me. No copyright infringement intended.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize and some things you don't. No copyright infringement intended. Copyright 2012 Multi-talented Girl.**

* * *

><p>Friday morning Laura woke up being wildly bounced. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, wondering what the hell was going on.<p>

"Heeeeeeeeey Laura!" Ross grinned and kept bouncing on her bed.

Well, there's her answer. "Ross, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Waking you up, duh. Raini and Calum are downstairs; Calum's driving us to the set." He got off her bed, then held out a hand for her. "C'mon! There's food downstairs."

Grumbling, Laura let him pull her out of bed. "I knew you only came here for the food."

He laughed. "That, and to see what you look like when you wake up. Just kidding!" he added, when her look turned murderous. "Honestly, you look kinda adorable like this." He mussed up her hair, grinning.

She swatted at his hands, more amused than she cared to admit. "Go eat your food," she laughed, "and let me get changed."

"Fine, fine. But you have to be down in five minutes!"

* * *

><p>"It's been fifteen minutes," was the first thing Ross said to her when she came downstairs.<p>

She rolled her eyes, brushing by him to grab a YoCrunch. "I'm a girl, Ross. If you haven't noticed yet, it takes some time to get ready."

"We have to get all prettied up," explained Raini.

"I think you look pretty even without makeup," offered Calum.

Raini smiled, patting his cheek. "Aw, thanks, Calum. Now, just go up to that girl of yours and tell her that; she'll love it!"

The ginger nodded obediently. "Noted."

"... So, you wanna tell me who it is?" Raini blinked innocently.

He pretended to consider it. "No, not really."

Raini's look of innocence dropped immediately to a scowl. "Ugh, just get in the car and drive."

"Yes, ma'am." He twirled his keys around on his finger, then lead the way outside to his car.

"Aww," murmured Laura.

"Aww what?" asked Ross.

"They're flirting! Well... _their_ type of flirting," amended Laura.

"Yeah, but Calum likes this other mystery girl."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll get over it. Can't you see? My best friend and your best friend are perfect for each other!"

"You are such a romantic."

"Like you aren't."

"... Point taken."

* * *

><p>Saturday morning, it was Sally's (one of the directors on Austin &amp; Ally) birthday, so everyone went out to celebrate.<p>

At the party, Sally's husband asked her to dance just as the song, I'll Be There**(2)** came on. It was the song they had danced to when he had first asked her out, she had told the girls earlier.

Laura, Raini, Debby, and China (Sally directed for a lot of Disney shows) _awww_-ed, while the guys tried to look macho and unaffected.

All save for two.

"Hey, Raini, you wanna dance?" asked Calum shyly.

Raini snorted. "You mean, 'Hey, Raini, you wanna teach me how to dance so I can impress my girl?' Why yes I would, thank you." She took his hand and started to drag him onto the dance floor, not noticing the tight way his face set itself as soon as she mentioned his mystery girl.

"Well, Calum and Raini are doing it, so what the hey, right? Laura, you wanna dance?" Ross stuck one hand in his pockets and another out for her to take.

Surprised, Laura accepted. "Sure."

They got onto the dance floor, and Laura hesitantly looped her arms around Ross's neck as his hands wrapped themselves surely around her waist. They swayed from side to side, smiling and maybe feeling the slightest bit awkward as Debby and China _aww_-ed and drew little hearts in the air from the sidelines.

"You look really nice," Ross mumbled shyly.

Laura blushed. "Um, thanks." She didn't think her little floral-print dress was so special, but if it was enough to draw this shy, boyish side of Ross out, then maybe it was time to start wearing it more often.

* * *

><p>Sunday morning Laura woke up to the insistent ringing of her phone.<p>

_Love me, love me, say that you love me—_

Groggily, she answered. "Hello?"

"Come over, I've got a surprise for you!" was the overwhelmingly cheerful answer from Ross.

"Why are you so chirpy?" grumbled Laura. "It's eight on a Sunday."

"Which means you should be up already!"

"Lies. You and I both know that neither of us like to wake up before nine on any given day, and on the weekends we sleep in until ten or eleven."

"Don't be a killjoy, Laura. Just come over? 'Kaythanksbye!" And he hung up before she could say no.

"Stupid blondie," grumbled Laura. Getting up before she wanted to always constituted lots of groaning and moaning. However, she smiled fondly at her phone, which had moments ago been playing R5's cover of Love Me**(1)**. Ross had switched her ringtone one day that week on set, when her guard was down and she wasn't looking. The two of them had had a fun week since the bowling alley incident with the paparazzi. Everyone around them had noticed their new best friendship, but hadn't said anything directly to them. Mrs. Lynch had smiled mysteriously with Rydel, the rest of the guys in the Lynch clan had looked mischevious, and Laura's mother and sister had looked... cunning.

Laura didn't know what to think about that, but all that she knew now was that nothing good ever came out of the Marano women's schemes. However, right now, she was feeling rather excited to get up and go over to the Lynch's.

* * *

><p>There was a goofy smile on her face when she rang the doorbell, different scenarios of what Ross's surprise could be running through her head.<p>

When the door was opened by a smiling Rydel, Laura blushed and hoped her best friend couldn't tell that she was thinking about her little brother. "Hey Laura, you're here!" greeted Rydel, a little louder than normal. Laura gave her a strange look, but stepped in anyways, breathing in the smell of fresh-baked cookies. She followed her nose to the kitchen, waving and smiling brightly at Mrs. Lynch.

"You're awfully chirpy for nine in the morning," remarked Rydel, a secret smile on her face.

"That's what I told Ross when he called at eight. I was pretty blown away that he was willing to get up this early to surprise me." Laura smiled softly, not noticing the _awww_ look that Rydel and her mother shared.

"Cookie?" offered Mrs. Lynch. "Ross helped bake them. Well," she made a face, "he helped frost them."

Laura giggled, taking the cookie and noticing the _Ross+Laura=Raurawesome!_ lettering. She felt her heart flutter at the words, touched. "This is so sweet!" she said, pointing to the cookie. "I almost don't want to eat it."

Rydel laughed. "There's more where that came from." She pointed to the tray of cookies, which were all frosted with something along the lines of R5, Austin & Ally, Laura and Ross, and GTKEO. "They're for you. He wanted you to have them for a 'taste of your could-be-second-home'."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "Could-be-second-home?"

"If you guys keep this best friends thing up, you're going to be part of the family," promised Mrs. Lynch.

"Like Ratliff," explained Rydel, just as the mustache-loving drummer entered the kitchen.

"Talking about me, ladies?" He grabbed a cookie from under Mrs. Lynch's nose, grinning cheekily when she shot him a pointed look.

"Ellington, those are for Laura to take home," reprimanded Mrs. Lynch, but she hardly sounded serious.

Ratliff made a face. "Must you call me by my real first name?" He swooned dramatically, Rydel catching him.

"I feel like it should be the other way around," remarked Rydel dryly, pushing him up.

"Yeah, well, you know if you fall I'll always catch you, right?" Ratliff offered her a boyish grin.

Laughing (but was that a hint of a blush Laura saw on her cheeks?), Rydel nodded. However, Laura was left no time to tease Rydel about this, because all of a sudden, everyone's eyes turned to her.

"A five, six, a five six seven eight!" yelled Ratliff, producing drum sticks out of his pockets and hitting them together with the beat. Somewhere in the house, someone struck a chord on the guitar.

Rydel and Ratliff looked at each other, then started singing Bad Enough For You**(2)**. They each took one of Laura's arms, leading her down the hallway while singing. Laura laughed, following along with them. They reached the door to the basement and went down. The rest of R5 was down there, playing to Bad Enough For You, with Ross singing the lead and dancing goofily for Laura.

Laura threw her head back and laughed, pushing Ratliff and Rydel to their rightful places; respectively, the drumset and the keyboard. Ross stepped down from the raised platform they were playing on and offered the mic to Laura. She took it and sang the lead while Ross danced his way to a black and white checkered dance floor**(3)**. Once he reached it, he broke out some of his own moves, winking at Laura as he declared, "Welcome to my studio!" They finished the song and Laura danced her way to the checkered dance floor. Behind them, the rest of R5 broke out into Hello Brooklyn**(2)** as Laura twirled into Ross's arms. She grinned slyly and twirled out, performing a series of tumbling moves soon after.

Ross did a back-flip in retaliation. He gestured with his arms as if to say, _Get at me, bro!_

Laura winked at him and did a series of flips, handsprings, walkovers, and roundoffs**(4)** that brought her into his arms, smiling breathlessly. He dipped her slowly. He made as if to drop her like in one episode of Austin & Ally, then pretended to reconsider, laughing when Laura glared. He brought her upright again and they shared a smile.

Behind them, the rest of R5 was drawing hearts in their air.

Laura and Ross took no notice; they were too busy bantering to care anyway.

"Well, can you do this?" Laura lifted her leg straight up behind her back and held it there, smiling.

"Can you do this?" countered Ross. He started breakdancing.

"Try this," challenged Laura, doing a complicated tutting**(4)** combo.

"Alright, let's settle this once and for all," said Ross as they walked upstairs. "You, me, arcade. Now."

"You're on."

* * *

><p>On the way to the arcade, they danced and laughed, entertaining the passerbys and generally just being happy.<p>

They arrived at the arcade bright-eyed and breathless, casually swinging interlocked hands (from a waltz that they had been performing for some people waiting with them at a stoplight) between them.

As he watched Laura ask the man at the money-to-game-coins exchange counter how he was doing, Ross smiled unconsiously, his heart growing warm at the easy kindness Laura showed with strangers. When her hand left his to grab the cup of coins, he was jolted back to reality, but not before frowning rather bemusedly at the emptiness his hand was left with.

"C'mon, Ross! What, afraid to loose?" she taunted.

He smirked. "I think that's the question you should be asking yourself." He pointed to a game in front of them. "First game: hoops."

* * *

><p>"What? No! No way!" groaned Ross dramatically.<p>

Laura smirked. "Read it and weep."

"Oh, I saw that movie," he replied rather randomly. "I didn't like it."

"Eh, neither did I. But I still win; four to one!" crowed Laura.

Ross wanted to whine at her, "That's not fair! You were distracting me!", but even to his own ears, the excuse sounded weak. Lame as it was, it was true. He had been delighted to watch Laura's eyes light up every time she scored, and he had reveled in the small, determined curve of her lips when he scored a point. So instead, he just said, "Next game. Indiana Jones Shoot-Out."

* * *

><p>GAME OVER. GAME OVER. The words blinked on the game screen, followed by LAURAMAZING LOSES TO ROSSOME.<p>

"Ha! I win!" Ross had the urge to add on, "Na na na na na!" He had never been one for self-control, so he said it, sticking his tongue out at Laura, who swatted at him playfully. "Don't be a sore loser!" he taunted.

"Don't be a rude winner!" she retorted.

"Hey, let's take a picture. I don't want to forget this day, especially when I beat you at that new dance game they have here." Ross smirked, pulling out his iPhone and drawing Laura into a half-hug. "C'mon, smile!" He aimed the camera at them and at the last moment, turned to press a little kiss to the side of Laura's head. Letting go of her, he uploaded the photo to his Twitter account**(6)** and murmured, "Perfect."

Meanwhile, Laura was slightly dazed from his show of affection. It wasn't unusual in the Hollywood world to kiss people on the cheek or the side of their head; whatever. Obviously, a make-out session with just anyone wasn't a daily occurance. Laura had had kisses bestowed upon her on many occasions from colleagues and such, but having Ross do it... It felt different, that was all. Nothing to fret about, she told herself. With a jolt, she realized that Ross had been talking to her.

"... and I don't get why you don't have a Twitter**(6)**," he was saying as she finally snapped to attention.

She shrugged. "Vanessa never got one.**(6)**"

"So?"

"So I don't have one. Whatever, okay? C'mon, let's get to that dance game you've been talking about all day," insisted Laura, and with that, the subject was dropped.

* * *

><p>"Oh man," breathed Ross.<p>

"Wow," agreed Laura. They were standing in front of dance floor similar to the kind you'd find on a TV show. It was split down the center, with one side being green and the other being purple. A panel on each side displayed different dance moves and how many points each got. The purpose of the game was to score as many points as possible, obviously, and Ross and Laura couldn't wait to try it out.

"C'mon, let's go try it out!" Ross urged, jumping onto the dance floor and pulling Laura with him. However, they were stopped by an arcade employee by the name of Marcie.

"You have to get changed for the first round first," she insisted, pointing them to different dressing rooms.

"Um, okay?" Laura glanced helplessly at Ross, who shrugged and mouthed,

"Just go with it!"

"Oh, chick flick!" she mouthed back, heading towards the ladies' dressing room.

"Yeah, I know, Rydel dragged me along to see it," he mouthed, miming slicing his neck as his made his way to the mens' dressing room.

"See you in five!" she yelled, ignoring the disapproving glare from Marcie.

"See ya!"

* * *

><p>"Wow, you look... not ridiculous," admitted Laura, five minutes later.<p>

"Gee, thanks," replied Ross sarcastically. "You look not ridiculous, too." They were both decked out in ballet gear (for Laura, this meant a lavender detailed leotard and a darker colored tutu, pink tights, plus pointe shoes), except Ross wasn't dressed in the standard white T-shirt/black tights and ballet slippers combo that she was so used to seeing on guys during rehearsals, but rather a lavender dress shirt that matched the color of her leotard, black character pants**(5)** and black ballet slippers.

She laughed at his almost mocking reply, pirouetting to her side of the dance floor. "Bring it," she challenged, slamming the Start button with the palm of her hand. The lights came up and the game started. Undefeated**(2)** came on, and an announcer's voice declared, "Dance-Off: Last One Standing! First round: ballet!" The music switched to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Laura raised an eyebrow and did the exact dance, impressing both the game (she was now ahead by one thousand points) and Ross (whose respect for her had just grew— yet again).

However, Ross wasn't through yet, so he intercepted her halfway, leading her across the floor in a series of jêtés and pirouttes (they were no longer following the original dance). When she left his arms to go do her own thing, he impressed with a series of classical ballet moves she had not expected him to know, earning him one thousand points and more respect from Laura.

Looking around, she was surprised to find that a large crowd had gathered, watching them dance. Suddenly, a clap of cymbals went off, and the game system announced, "First round over. Contestants, back to your rooms to get dressed for the second round: jazz!"

But Laura and Ross weren't paying much attention to the game, the crowd, the impatiently-tapping-her-feet Marcie, or anything else but each other. They shared a smile as they both were reminded of the time when Laura's character, Ally, had to wake up Ross's character, Austin, with a pair of cymbals.

However, a murderous-looking Marcie grabbed them each by the ear and hauled them to their respective dressing rooms before they could laugh at the memory.

Five minutes later, they emerged from their dressing rooms in blue-themed clothing. Laura had a one-shoulder electric blue dress that glittered under the spotlight, nude jazz shoes**(5)**, and caramel tights. Ross was in a blue dress shirt that matched her dress, black character pants, and black jazz shoes. The correct music for the genre started up, and they each started to show off; Laura with flashy leaps, turns, and kicks, and Ross with much the same. However, Laura won this round by five hundred points.

The cymbals crashed again. "End of round two. Get ready for round three: hip-hop!"

This time, Laura and Ross went obediently to their dressing rooms (without any need for ear-dragging), fearful of Marcie. They came out five minutes later, decked out in hip-hop gear. Ross had some slightly baggy pants, hip-hop sneakers**(5)**, and a flashy gold vest-with-hoodie on top of a solid black T-shirt. Laura had her hair taken out of the bun it had been in earlier, and now it rested on her shoulder in a side-ponytail of curls, with a gold newsboy cap on top. She had on black leggings, black hip-hop sneakers, a black skirt, and a vest similar to Ross's, except with short sleeves and a black cami underneath.

Ross pouted when he saw Laura's outit. "Aw man, I was hoping they'd put you in gansta gear!"

"Gangsta gear?" The words sounded foreign coming out of Laura's mouth; even she could feel it.

"Y'know... all badass and gansta-y?" Ross tried to explain, but he failed miserably.

"Okay, Ross. Okay." Laura patted his shoulder sympathetically, speaking as if he were a mentally ill person (read: CRAZY).

Ross had no time to retort, however, because the third round was starting in two seconds.

The Show Goes On(2) came on and immediately, Ross did a knee-slide**(4)** into a coffee-grinder**(4)**. He grinned as the crowd cheered. Looking up, he expected them to be cheering for him, but instead they were lauding Laura, who was impressing with a tutting routine. His mouth dropped open, then shut in determination. He did a series back flips until he reached her, pretending to rudely shove her away when he did.

The crowd "oooh"-ed at that, and Ross grinned, pleased with finally catching their attention. He then pulled out a bunch of tricks to show off, of which included a handspin**(4)**, a half-split combo**(4)**, and more.

Meanwhile, Laura stood off to the side, a sly smile on her face as she watched Ross do a stutter-stop**(4)** with his body. When his back was bent almost vertical, she took the chance and ran towards him. Using his back as a launchpad, she pressed her hand down on his back and flipped through the air, twisting in a tight 360, with her body completely straight and her arms tucked in to her chest. The amazed crowd cheered wildly for her, and the game system gave her an extra two hundred points.

Ross just scoffed and got back up to his feet. He then proceeded to do an amazing isolation routine**(4)** that left Laura speechless. Sure, she had known he was good, but she hadn't known he was _that_ good!

So when the game system announced that Ross was tied with her (the five hundred points she gaineed during the jazz section now nullified), she could only smile and admit that he had earned it.

He winked, flashing her a quick smile before vanishing into his dressing room for the last round: freestyle.

When he came back out five minutes later, he was back in his jeans and plaid button-down. However, when Laura emerged, she was in a red halter leotard with black dancer's Spandex, a high, sleek ponytail, and nude footundeez**(5)**.

"Ready to rock?" he asked.

"Ready, set, rock," she corrected jokingly, referring to an original R5 song**(2)**.

He grinned and slapped high-fives with her, then the music (Undefeated again) started and she fluidly back-walkover-ed**(4)** away from him into a split.

He retaliated with a knee-slide into a baby-freeze**(5)** and then a backwards worm**(5)**.

She did a foutte**(5)**, ending with a flourish as she held her leg next and vertical to her head without any hands. She held the position for four beats, then came down gracefully and switch-leaped**(4)** to a new position on the floor. On the floor, she pressed her chest to the ground and lifted her leg behind her up, up, and up until she caught it with her hand. Now her split was almost backwards and inside-out, but she didn't stop there. She rolled over twice, still holding onto her leg. After the second time, she stood up and gave a mock now to Ross.

He scowled and went down to the floor to do a six-step**(4)** into a push-up that pushed him all the way up until he was standing normally. He followed up with a body wave and then a pose.

She was about to retaliate, but before she could, the whole game system shut down. She and Ross stopped, confused. Ross's expression said simply: _Dafuq?_

Before any of them could ask what was going on, Vanessa Marano shouldered her way through the crowd, an angry expression on her face.

She stomped onto the stage and grabbed Laura's wrist, glaring at her. "You missed an important function of mine," she hissed. "Today there's another one and you need to show up. What are you still doing here?" She huffed, starting to pull Laura away from the stage.

"Laura!" Ross called after her, arms spread out in a _what the hell?_ kind of way.

Laura could only throw him one helpless, apologetic glance before following her sister out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oooh, cliffie! Sorta... Alright, in the next chapter you get to find out what's up with Laura's crazy, dysfunctional family. I'm really sorry about not updating sooner, but I've been really busy and as a result, I won't ramble on as usual. Check out my Wordpress blog (accessible through my profile page or just put .com into the address bar and it should come right up), especially the post titled Please Don't Throw the Tomatoes... for my reasons of not updating sooner.**

**Also, I've changed my username— now's it's LostAmongTheStars because it had the most votes in the poll on my profile page.**

**This chapter I'm not so pleased with, since the second half is too concentrated on the logistics of the dance game, and for that I'm sorry. The next chapter will be tons better, I promise.**

**(1) Again, R5 is Ross Lynch's family band, and one of their songs is a cover to the Justin Bieber song Love Me. Personally, I think their version is better, but that may be just because I saw theirs first. (2) I'll Be There is an old Jackson 5 song that's been covered many times. Bad Enough For You and Hello Brooklyn are two songs by All Time Low; they're good, catchy songs with a good, catchy beat, so go check them out! Undefeated is a great song by Jason Derulo; if you haven't heard if yet, I suggest you go check it out. The Show Goes On is another great song, this time by Lupe Fiasco. Ready, Set, Rock was the first original song R5 came out with, and it was featured on their first EP on iTunes. Unfortunately, the EP is no longer available, but you can still probably find the song on YouTube. This song is like R5's good luck charm; before every performance, they put their hands together, shout "Ready, set, rock!" and then break. (3) Ross has mentioned in a couple interviews that his old home in Littleton, Colorado (the Lynch family moved to LA in 2007) had a checkered dance floor, and he used to dance on it with his family (hence his love— and skill level— of dance), so I decided to incorporate that into his new home in LA as well. (4) These are all a bunch of dance moves, if you'd like to know what they look like, just search 'em up on YouTube. (5) These are different articles of clothing used in dance, and if you'd like to know what they look like, just search them up (the main words, not the details, i.e. search "leotard" and not "purple detailed leotard". However, if it's the style that's different, you should search both the main word and the style together, i.e. seach "halter leotard" instead of just "leotard". (6) Oops, I messed up the annotation numbers so this one goes before 5... Never mind. Anyways, Ross's Twitter account is rossr5. FanFiction won't let me put the little "at" symbol in because they're preventing spam, so whenever you see a little , just assume it's the symbol you use for email addresses, etc. Also known as the symbol you get when you press Shift and 2 at the same time. Laura Marano did not have a Twitter when I wrote that part, but now she does! Her official twitter is yaylauramarano, but I will include the Twitter-making account in this story to somehow bring more romance to Ross and Laura's life! As far as I know, Vanessa Marano does NOT have a Twitter account.**

_**Oooh, you know that new Image Manager thing where you can have a cover page for you stories? I'm going to have a competition. Anyone who wants to can make me a cover page for this story, and the winner will get to be featured in an upcoming chapter!**_

**And that's it for today, folks.**

**~ LostAmongTheStars**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize and some things you do. No copyright infringement intended. **

**Copyright 2012 LostAmongTheStars**

* * *

><p><em>Before any of them could ask what was going on, Vanessa Marano shouldered her way through the crowd, an angry expression on her face. <em>

_She stomped onto the stage and grabbed Laura's wrist, glaring at her. "You missed an important function of mine," she hissed. "Today there's another one and you need to show up. What are you still doing here?" She huffed, starting to pull Laura away from the stage. _

_"Laura!" Ross called after her, arms spread out in a what the hell? kind of way. _

_Laura could only throw him one helpless, apologetic glance before following her sister out._

Ross didn't get to see her again until work on Monday. He made sure to get to the Austin & Ally set extra early (which meant he also had to wake up extra early) to guarantee that he would be there when Laura arrived.

He waited as directors, producers, studio people, assistants, and practically everyone arrived on set, but there was still no sign of Laura.

Calum arrived, but no Laura.

Raini arrived, but no Laura.

Distractedly, he asked Raini and Calum, "Did Laura come with you guys?" At their shaking heads, he added on, "Do you know where she is?"

Raini shook her head. "What's wrong, Ross? What do you need her for so much?"

"I have questions and she's going to give me answers." Ross grinned. "Man, I've always wanted to say that!"

Calum rolled his eyes, also grinning. "You're so lame, Ross."

"Nuh-uh! I'm Rossome!"

"See? Lame."

"Thanks, Raini."

"Anytime, buddy!"

* * *

><p>Just before they started shooting the first scene of the day, Laura arrived.<p>

"Late!" exclaimed Jacy and John (makeup and wardrobe people) in unison. They each grabbed one of her arms and hauled her to Ally Dawson/Laura Marano's Makeup and Wardrobe room.

"You're lucky the first scene they're shooting today is of Calum and Raini. Otherwise, you would've been in trouble," lectured John, grabbing Ally Dawson's outfit for Laura's next scene off a rack.

Once she was dressed, John left to go deal with other people's wardrobes, while Laura was left with the always anxious Jacy.

"What if I'm not done with you in time?" fretted Jacy, quickly applying foundation. "Our guest star today arrived late, too, so I have to do his makeup and oh my gosh I'm freaking out 'cause I don't have enough time to do everything!" Jacy looked on the verge of tears.

Gently, Laura turned Jacy around to the direction of the door. "Go do our guest star's makeup, Jacy. I can do my own."

"And I'll help!" Ross popped his head around the doorframe, looking unusually relieved to see Laura.

Jacy nodded, sniffling. "Okay, then." She passed by Ross near the door and smiled maternally. "Thanks, sweetie."

Ross grinned, letting her past him. "Anytime, Jace." He made his way to where Laura was sitting in the makeup chair, applying lipstick**(1)**.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the action, and they darkened. A bit thickly, he asked, "Do you need help?"**(2)**

Laura smiled, seeming unaware of how low his voice had dropped**(2)**. "Sure; do you know how to apply blush**(1)**?"

Ross scoffed. "I grew up with Rydel as my sister**(3)**. What do you think?"

Laura laughed, handing him a blush brush. "Go crazy, tiger."

Ross groaned. "You're not seriously going to call me that, right? It was one episode**(4)**!"

She grinned. "Yes I am, tiger. Since blondie is taken by Cassidy, a.k.a. Aubrey Peeples**(5)**."

"But you came up for it first, which means I'll always be your blondie." He smiled at her shyly. "And apparently your tiger, too," he added, when he felt the temperature go up a few degrees.

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), a reporter popped his head into the room just at that moment. "Hey, guys." He smiled easily at them. "I'm here just to take a few pictures and put some captions to 'em. You wanna pose for me?"

Ross and Laura shrugged, then nodded. "Just take the picture like this," suggested Ross. He held the blush brush up to Laura's face, grinning as she made a cute little face.

The reporter snapped the picture**(6)**, then beamed at them. "Thanks, guys!" He left right away, and Ross returned to applying blush to Laura's cheeks.

"Done," he said happily, setting down the brush. "What's next?"

Laura laughed. "Eye makeup: mascara primer**(1)**, then mascara**(1)**, and some eyeshadow, but I can do that on my own. Then I've got lipgloss**(1)** to do, which I guess if you wanted you could help with."

Ross swallowed. Do her lipgloss? Um, okay... Totally not making him nervous at all... He picked up the tube of lipgloss and unscrewed it open. Taking the gloss wand, he bent down to Laura's height and carefully swept the wand back and forth across her upper lip. Once, twice, then down to the bottom one. Once, twice again, then he murmured, "Smack."

She rubbed her lips together and blended in the gloss while Ross remained bent to her level. "What?" she asked, when she noticed him staring at her lips.

Softly, he replied, "You smudged it a bit..." He swiped his finger along the edge of her bottom lip, wiping a teensy bit of lipgloss off. "There," he breathed. "All good."

Laura watched, transfixed, as he exhaled slowly and straightened up. "Um, thanks," she said after a moment.

"No problem." He grinned, and she knew she had her happy-go-lucky, normal Ross back. Casually, he asked, "So... what's up with your sister? I mean, she just showed up and forced you to leave... What was that all about?"

Laura, in the midst of doing her mascara, tightened up. "Nothing. That was nothing."

Ross laughed uncertainly. "Nothing? What are you talking about, nothing?"

"It's not important," said Laura impatiently. "Now, can we please talk about something else?" When she saw Ross's expression, she added, "Please, blondie. Just drop it."

Ross's eyes hardened. "Fine."

"Good." Laura breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, let's talk about our guest star..."

Ross nodded and smiled at all the right times while she chattered on, but his heart wasn't in it. He was still wondering about the Vanessa incident. He respected Laura's privacy and all, but weren't they good friends? Weren't they close to being permanent _best_ friends? All he wanted was to get to know her...

But maybe, deep inside, what he really wanted was for her to consider him as something more, as someone she could trust with anything.

And that included things about her strange family.

So, now what he really needed was answers. And if Laura wouldn't give him any, he knew someone who would.

* * *

><p>Lunch time swung around, and the cast and crew gathered to eat together. While Calum and Laura went to get the cast's order of Chick-Fil-A, Ross decided to make good use of the time Laura wouldn't be there and sidled up to Raini.<p>

"So... How's it going, Raini?"

"Um... good..." Raini gave him a strange look. "Is something wrong? 'Cause you're acting really weird..."

Ross shook his head. "Nah, everything's fine. Well, no. Not exactly."

Raini raised an eyebrow. "Oh, dear. Okay, Ross, hit me with it."

"Well, Laura and I went to the arcade on Sunday, and—"

Raini cut him off right there. "You spent the day with Laura?"

"Yeah..." He trailed off, failing to see where this was going. "Um, I made her cookies— well I frosted cookies for her with things like 'Ross+Laura=Raurawesome!', then R5 performed for her and we kind of had a little dance-off. I took her to the arcade after that, and after playing a couple games, we went to a dance-off game. It was almost over, but then her sister came and turned the game system off. She grabbed Laura and they left. She seemed kinda angry. It was weird..." He trailed off again as he noticed Raini's hands tightening into fists. "Whoa there. You okay, Raini?"

Raini snapped back to attention. "What? Oh yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Okay..." Ross sent her a worried look. "You're sure you're fine?" At her nod, he continued. "Anyways, I tried asking her about it while I did her makeup this morning, but she froze up and told me to drop it. I respect her privacy, but we're GTKEO, plus we're good friends, so she can tell me anything."

Raini shook her head. "You don't want to know about her family. You should really just drop it."

"That's what she told me, but I do want to know! I can handle it. I'm sure her family puts the FUN in dysFUNctional." Now he looked torn between frustration and amusement at his lame joke.

Fortunately, Raini laughed. "You can't deny your lame-ness anymore, Ross." Unfortunately, she didn't seem like she was about to give him answers any time soon.

So the only thing he could do was laugh it off and try again later. Raini, there was a possibility that he could get her to crack. Laura, well, he knew getting her to crack was a lost cause. "At least I'm a hot lame person," he joked.

Raini pretended to give him the once-over. "Meh. I'd say you're a... 7.4, maybe?"

"_7.4?_ _Raini!_"

* * *

><p>"Lauraaaaaa!" trilled Raini, five hours later.<p>

"Raini, how come you always interrupt me when I'm studying? I have an English quiz in half an hour," complained Laura. "Plus, we have to shoot the last scene of the day in an hour."

Raini flapped a hand in the air. "Studying, _schmudying_._ I _wanna know what's going on between you and our little blonde friend. Or, rather, you and our _tall_ blonde friend." She wiggled her eyebrows slyly.

Laura laughed. "Don't ever do that eyebrow thing again," she said, in between laughs. When she had calmed down enough to talk without laughing, she said, "Nothing's going on between Ross and I."

"_Ah-ha_!" Raini pointed at Laura triumphantly and a little accusingly. "I never said it was Ross, you just assumed it was about you and him, which means there _is_ something going on between you two!"

Laura looked exasperated. "How many other 'tall blonde friend's are you going to mention like that? Of course it's Ross."

"_Mm_-hm." Raini gave her a look that clearly showed she didn't believe her. "Anyways," her tone turned serious, "he was asking about your family today."

Laura dropped her head into her hands and groaned. "Again? He was already bothering me about it... I swear, that boy has no sense of privacy."

Raini bit her lip, worried. "I dunno, Laura. I think he's kind of hurt that you won't tell him. He just wants to get to know you better. Give him a chance, will ya?"

Laura sighed. "We _are_ good friends, but you know how I am, Raini. It was hard enough to let you and Calum in, and now Ross? I just don't know."

Raini patted her shoulder consolingly. "You know what, never mind. Don't you worry about this, honey."

"Thanks, Raini." Laura smiled at her best friend.

"Anytime." Raini grinned. "Now, what would you rate Ross today? I gave him a 7.4 at lunch, but I want your opinion."

Laura blinked. To be honest, she thought he looked good all the time, but she obviously couldn't tell Raini that... "Um, an 8?"

Raini raised her eyebrows and pinned Laura down with a Look. "Don't you lie to me, Laura Marie Marano."

"Okay, fine. 10." Laura blushed as Raini clapped her hands delightedly.

"Nothing's going on, my ass." Raini smirked. "You just tell me when you get together and I'll be there to say, 'I told you so'."

"Thanks. Always the supportive friend."

"But notice how you didn't deny that you'll get together!"

"... I really hate you sometimes, Raini."

"Aw, honey, you know you love me!"

* * *

><p>Just moments after the last scene had been wrapped up and everyone was leaving, Audrey Whitby stopped by with oatmeal raisin cookies for Ross.<p>

"Ross! Hey, Ross!" she called after him, just as he was leaving the set with Laura.

The two had been laughing and chatting (and what Raini said was flirting), so both of them turned around to face Audrey.

"Hey, Audrey," greeted Ross. "Whatcha got there?" he asked, eyeing the plate of cookies.

"One day, you won't be hungry. And then we'll mark it down on our calendars and make it into a national holiday," promised Laura.

"I think I could go with just a set-wide holiday," joked Ross.

Laura deadpanned. "You just killed the joke. Whatever remains there were of it, you just _completely_ maimed them."

Ross deadpanned right back. "I maimed them? Laura, you loser."

Laura scoffed. "Me? A loser? Obviously I'm adorkable like Ally and you're just jealous."

Ross scoffed in turn. "Me? Jealous? Please, I'm slick and smooth like Austin Moon."

".. Ross Lynch. I completely agree with Raini and Calum on this. You are so lame." Laura grinned and shoved gently at his shoulder, which prompted him to shove her back, which, in turn, made her guilt-trip him by lecturing him on the evils of hurting girls. Then they started chasing each other around, and anyone could tell they were high on the Mr. Sketcher markers Yvette**(7)** gave them.

Meanwhile, Audrey stood and waited until their flirting/"just friends"-ing ended. "Hey, Ross? I made you some cookies," she said shyly, handing the plate to him.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed, grabbing the plate right out of her hands.

"Ross!" Laura slapped at his hands. "Be polite!"

"Huh?" He looked up at her, having alreday peeled back the Saran wrap.

She muttered, "_Where are your manners_, Ross Shor Lynch?" out of the corner of her mouth.

He had a deer-in-the-headlights expression on for a few moments, then his face lit up with realization. "Oh!" he exclaimed, immediately shoving the plate into Laura's arms and turning to face Audrey. "Thanks, Audrey! You just became my favorite person for bringing me food!" He grabbed her up in a big bear hug, then set her down, not noticing her extremely pink face.

Ross bounded back to Laura, holding his hands out for the plate. "Gimme."

Laura gave him a Look. "I feed you all the time, how come I'm not your favorite person? And no, you gotta say the magic word."

Ross rolled his eye. "You _are_ my favorite person— my favorite person of all time. And, please?" He brought out the puppy-dog eyes.

Laura scoffed. "Please, you think the puppy-dog eyes still work on me?"

Ross shrugged, not letting up. "I do have a pair of amazing puppy-dog eyes."

"Fine." She shoved the plate back into his arms, then cracked a smile. "But only because worlds will be demolished if you don't get your food. _Worlds_."

Ross grinned, taking a cookie and biting down into it. "Damn straight," he said, around a mouthful of cookie.

"Ew, please close your mouth while chewing!" complained Laura, glaring when he wouldn't obey her. "Okay, fine," she muttered. Ross went still as her hand covered his mouth delicately, effectively shutting him up and closing his mouth. He swallowed slowly, desperately trying to stop himself from thinking about what else could have been be over his lips at the moment...**(2)** "There," breathed Laura. "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Ross grinned, then flicked his tongue out. He laughed as she drew back, exclamations of disgust flying from her mouth. "Gotcha," he said smugly.

Laura tried to glare at him, but ended up laughing. Then, she saw the bug-eyed look on Ross's face. So, either he was extremely surprised, or he hated the cookies that Audrey had made. Since there was nothing for him to be surprised about, she went for the second option. "Um, Audrey? You wanna give me your email?" she asked suddenly. Leaning in, she whispered, "I'll send you a list of things that Ross does and doesn't like."

Audrey nodded, but her face fell. "Let me guess, one of the things he doesn't like is oatmeal raisin cookies."

Laura looked apologetic. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Audrey shook her head. "Don't be, I had it coming for me." To herself, she muttered, "This is what happens when you try to do something without doing your research first. Audrey, you idiot!" She pasted on a bright smile for Ross and Laura. "Well, I gotta go, but see you guys tomorrow!" She left quickly, without a backwards glance.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Laura groaned and facepalmed. "Ross!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "Why must you dislike everything Audrey gives you? She's just trying to get you to like her!"

Ross shrugged. "I'm sorry, but she keeps bringing me the things that I hate! It's not my fault if she doesn't know me as well as you do... Speaking of you..." he grinned, "How would you like a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies?"

Laura rolled her eyes and grabbed the plate from him, but she couldn't help the warm feeling in her chest when he said she knew him better than Audrey. "Fine, but we can't walk home together today. Vanessa's picking me up for another big party-slash-event thing." Just then, a red car beeped at them. Laura looked apologetically at Ross. "That's her, sorry. See you tomorrow!" She waved over her shoulder as she ran to the car.

As soon as the car had driven away, Ross turned in the direction of Raini's house.

* * *

><p><em>Knock. Knock. Knockity-knock-knock. Kno—<em>

"What?" snapped Raini, opening the door.

Ross held up his hands in defense. "Whoa whoa whoa, don't shoot me. What's got you all worked up?"

"Three words: ginger from hell." Her expressions turned even darker as she spoke the words.

"So... That's either Calum, or Chucky. I think I'll go with Calum," decided Ross.

At his attempt to cheer her up, she sighed and cracked a tiny smile. "Well, come on in, you awkward child," she said, gesturing for him to come in.

He stepped in, protesting as Raini closed the door behind him. "Hey, I'm not awkward!"

Raini raised her eyebrows as they made their way to the living room. "You are to awkward as Laura is to awkward. So, basically, put the two of you together, and it's just a whole vat of awkward."

Ross sat down on the couch slowly, furrowing his brow. "Okay, first of all, that was a really bad analogy. Second of all, I am not as awkward as Laura, no way José." He shook his head decisively.

"The fact that you just said 'no way José' just proves how awkward you are," replied Raini. Her expression turned sour as she continued on. "Which reminds me, how socially awkward does a guy have to be in orrder to think pick-up lines will actually work on a legal adult? I mean, obviously Calum is! He called me to try out some pick-up lines, did you know that?" she huffed, crossing her arms. "He was all, 'Baby, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?' and, 'I lost your number, can I have yours?' Oh, and do you know what else he said? 'If you were on the McDonald's menu, I'd SuperSize you.' You know, that doesn't even make sense! He is such an asshat!"

"_Such _an asshat," agreed Ross, though his eyes were glazed over, as if he wasn't listening.

"I swear, if I ever meet this mystery girl of his— who he will not be trying pick-up lines out on, by the way, if I taught him anything through that hour of yelling—, I'm going to give her a new identity, ship her off to Mexico, and warn her against creeps like Calum!" She finished her rant with one big huff.

Ross nodded. "Really, _such_ a creep." His eyes brightened up as he realized she was done talking. "But hey, I only came here to ask you about Laura's family."

Raini deadpanned at him. "Gee, thanks, Ross. Glad you could take time out of your busy scheule to see little ol' me, and with absolutely no ulterior motive, too!"

"No, that's not what I meant! It's just, Laura's thing is more important and— that's not what I meant either—"

Raini held up a hand to stop the onslaught of words. "I got the point, Ross. Anyways, like I told you before, if Laura doesn't want me to tell you about her family, I won't tell you." As soon as that last sentence slipped out of her mouth, she knew it was the wrong thing to say. Ross's face fell, and she felt immediately guilty for the kicked-puppy expression he sported.

"She _told_ you she didn't want you to tell me about her family?" His gone was crestfallen. "But... I thought we were best friends. Good friends. Whatever. Doesn't she trust me?"

Raini's expression was tortured as she watched Ross's expression contort into one of disappointment and sadness. Finally, she snapped. "Stop it!"

He looked at her, startled. "What? Stop what?"

"That awful expression you have on!" she replied, gesturing wildly to his face. "You awkward child, you're making me feel like I just kicked a puppy!"

"I'm not awkward—"

"Yes, you are," she interrupted. "Now, let me think. Laura's super closed up, you know how she is, right? So you understand that if I told you anything, I'd be betraying her. If she wants to tell you, she'll tell you on your own time. She's just... She finds it hard to trust people, especially with her family— damn it, I've already said too much."

Ross leaned forward, a look of anticipation on his face. Raini was close to cracking, he knew it. She just needed one more little nudge in the right direction... "Y'know, I think Laura's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She's so strong yet so kind at the same time, and anyone can see that she's crazy talented. I really do care for her, and I care for her a lot. If there's any family issues in her life... I wanna help, and if she's not ready for that, then I'm ready to just listen. I just... I want her to know that she can trust me, you know? That she has another shoulder to lean on or cry on in me," he finished earnestly.

Raini's eyes widened as she gaped at the blonde sitting across from her. "Wow," she finally managed. "That was some speech."

At this Ross grinned, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, it was pretty emasculating, too."

Raini smiled, but then her expression turned serious. "Alright, you really want to know what goes on in this family of Laura's?" At his nod, she continued. "I gotta warn you, though, her family is nothing like yours. I don't think you can even imagine a family like hers, because yours is so perfect, but the sad thing is, families like yours are much rarer than families like hers. So, are you sure you want to know?" He nodded again, and she took a deep breath. "Alright, then, I'll give you the short version." And then she began. "The Marano family started off in a rocky position. After her mom had her, Laura's parents started fighting, fighting all the time. Laura was only four years old when her dad walked off one day and never came back. Ever since, her mother has been relentlessly pushing her and her sister to fame and fortune, as if it'll somehow erase the so-called shame of being walked out on.**(8)**

"Now Vanessa's getting caught up in it, too. She's more famous than Laura is right now, so their mother will continue to work hard and promote Vanessa, while Laura just kind of fades into the background. So, Laura's been competing with Vanessa ever since.**(8)**

"Vanessa never meant for this to happen, and she doesn't even know that Laura's trying to compete with her right now. And if she seems like she's a total bitch to Laura sometimes, it's not true. Their mother is just putting a lot of pressure on her, that's all**(8)**." Raini sighed, setting her hands in her lap to try and control her anxiety as to what Ross's reaction would be. "So? Are you glad I told you now?" she asked finally.

Ross, who had been sitting still in shock for a while now, finally flicked his eyes up to Raini's and breathed out a long sigh. "Wow," he said finally.

Raini nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"That's just— wow." He ran a hand through his hair, looking stunned. "How does she do it?" he asked. "How does she go through every day and still— and still be so kind? Shouldn't she be bitter, and, I dunno, maybe in need of anger management?"

Raini smiled fondly. "Well, that's Laura for you. She's jaded, that's for sure, and she finds it hard to trust people, but she never lets that get in the way of her helping others. Which is honestly a bit of a fatal flaw; having a hero complex isn't going to make her life any easier, y'know?"

Suddenly, Ross stood up, a look of determination on his face. "No," he said.

"What?"

"I said no. She can't shut herself up like this; she can't help people and not expect them to want to help her back. She _can't_." He turned to Raini desperately. "She can't, and I won't let her. Thanks for your help, Raini, but I have to go now." He rushed to the door, pulling it open and running out into the street against her protests. "Tell Calum for me that pick-up lines stopped working after the 90's, 'kay?" And then he was running down the street.

"But—!" Raini held out an arm hopelessly, as if that could somehow magically bring him back. "That wasn't the point of my story," she mumbled, then closed the door behind her. "I'd better warn Laura," she muttered, picking up the phone and dialing her number. Impatiently, she tapped her fingers against the wall as her call went through.

"Raini?" Laura's voice sounded through the other end.

"Yeah, hi. Listen, I told Ross about your family—" started Raini.

"What?" Laura cut her off. "You _told_ him?" She blew out a breath. "Why?"

"Well— I— he was giving me that _look_! The one where he's all, 'I'm gonna pretend like I'm a puppy and you kicked me now'."

"Ohhhh— with the puppy dog eyes and everything?" Laura tsk-ed sympathetically. "That used to work on me, then it became o-ver-rated**(9)**."

"That's not the point here, Laura. He's going over to your place right now to talk to you— which, obviously, you know, means that he'll interrogate you and then try to fix your family issues. The guy has a hero-complex; I swear, if it were up to him, we'd be living in a world full of rainbows and unicorns."

"Really? I think it'd be more like love and peace, or, I dunno, puppies and kittens. And what? Does he know I'm at the studio and not at my house?"

"Nope, but your family does and he'll probably ask them. I thought I'd give you a heads-up and some time to collect yourself for when he shows. It's Hurricane Ross time, Laur."

"Yeah, I know." Laura sighed. "Alright, thanks, then. I'll be stockpiling emergency supplies for Hurricane Ross and then maybe salvaging the wreckage after he's done, if you need me." She hung up.

Raini hung up as well, setting the phone back where it belonged. "Oh, Laura," she sighed. "I hope you survive this."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am so sorry about the lack of updates recently. Long story short, I was on vacation, then I wrote original stuff for FictionPress, then I got distracted on Twitter... etc. **

**(1) So for anyone who doesn't know, stage makeup is a lot heavier than normal makeup, so Laura's only putting so much on because otherwise she'd look washed out underneath all the lights. Plus, Laura says that she rarely wears makeup outside of her work for Austin & Ally, so... Follow her on Twitter: yaylauramarano. (2) Ross is a teenager. He has hormones. Get over it. (3) Rydel's amazing at makeup, seriously. (4) Referring to the Diners & Daters episode of Austin & Ally. (5) Aubrey Peeples is the actress who played Cassidy in Diners & Daters. (6) This is an actual picture, I think it was in BOP&Tigerbeat or something?I dunno, there's pictures of it all over the Internet. (7) If you've forgotten, Yvette is one of their on-set teachers. Again, I have no idea who their actual teachers are; remind yourself that this is fanFICTION. Some things in this story are, in fact, true, but rest assured, I will tell you when they are. (8) None of this family drama stuff is real. In real life Laura is super close to her dad and they're all like the poster family for a perfect life. (9) Like, imagine her saying o-ver-rated. It's not because I don't know to spell, guys xD**

**My Twitter username has changed to yours_sabrina, so don't try looking for SingDanceWrite anymore, 'cause she's gone.**

**As usual, check out my Wordpress and um... yeah, I think that's it.**

**Oh, and, the next chapter is when things start to get dramatic. There's a little twist. Just a little. **

**Yours,**  
><strong>Sabrina<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize and some things you don't. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Copyright 2012 LostAmongTheStars**

* * *

><p>Five knocks in rapid succession sounded on the door of the Marano residence.<p>

Vanessa opened the door, eating a sandwich. "Hi, Woff," she said around a mouthful of sandwich.

Ross smiled wanly and reminded himself not to get mad at Vanessa— she didn't know about the whole sibling rivalry (her _own_ sibling rivalry) thing. "Hi, Vaness. Do you know where Laura is?"

She shook her head apologetically. "Nope, but if you fee her, tell to cong hong!"

"What?"

She chewed through her sandwich and gulped it down, then repeated, "Nope, but if you see her, tell her to come home!"

"Oh, gotcha. Thanks, and I'll be sure to tell her!" He left with a wave.

_Man, where could Laura be?_ he asked himself, not noticing where he was going and just letting his feet take him wherever his subconsious mind wanted. _Think, Ross, think! If I were a Laura Marano, where would I go? ... Ugh, this is so not working._

Shaking his head, he stopped walking (it had been a while) and looked up. He blinked at where he had ended up, surprised. It was Laura's studio.

_Of course!_ Mentally, he set his brain on fire. Why hadn't he thought about that before; she said she spent 75% of her time away from school and work there, odds were that was where he should've checked first.

Sighing a little at his own obliviousness, he entered the glass building, ascended the stairs, made his way down the hallway, and opened the door to the dance studio. Apprehensively, he let the door close behind him gently while he said, "Hello? Laura?" He was surprised to find that his voice echoed in the silent dance studio. Then he looked up at the soaring ceilings and realized why it was so echo-y.

"Ross?" Laura's voice sounded out from behind him, and he whipped out quickly.

"Oh, hey!" he greeeted. "I, uh, I didn't notice you were standing there— have you been standing there the whole time?" He didn't give her time to respond before his next gabble of words came out, "I was distracted by your ceiling..." He pointed awkwardly upwards. "I mean, it's reallly high so of course everything echoes in here— but I guess you'd already know that—"

"Ross!" She cut him off amusedly. "Wow, this time it's _me_ cutting off _your_ endless rambling; what has the world come to?" She smiled faintly as all the awkwardness seemed to evaporate at her ironic comment.

"Yeah, well, you make me a little nervous," he admitted.

"_I_ make _you_ nervous?" She raised her eyebrows in shock. "No way."

He nodded emphatically. "Way. People that I know I'm going to be friends with forever... They always make me a little nervous at first, because there's just so much room to go wrong, y'know?"

"I guess. So, what are you doing here?" she asked conversationally (even though she already knew), leading him out of the room, down the hallway, and into another.

This time, it was a cozy little dining room; all floral window drapes and patterned tableclothes. Pulling a chair out for himself, Ross sat down while Laura went to fetch some snacks. She came back a little later, a plate of Oreo's in her hand. Setting it down on the table, she repeated her question.

"Well..." Ross fidgeted uncomfortably. "I went over to Raini's today," he said suddenly. "Pushed and prodded more about your family," he continued, "Which I know you told me to drop it, but I can't. I want to help, okay? Whatever you need, whatever it takes, I want to help and—"

Laura held up a hand, stopping him for the second time. "Hey, it's alright. Raini told me all about it before you arrived, anyway." There was a moment of silence as Ross reminded himself to never tell or ask Raini about anyone ever again (it would all just get back to whoever he was asking and/or telling things about) and Laura tried to figure out what to tell him. Finally, she let out a slight bitter, "So, I guess you know all about my family now."

He nodded. "Yes." For a second, it seemed like he would be content to just leave it at that, but then he burst out with, "But you can't just _do_ that, Laura!"

"Do what?"

"You can't just be a kind, helpful, nice, wonderful person even with an awful past and not expect people to want to help! You can't just close up and shut down whenever someone wants to give you what you deserve, which is care and love and everything you give! Just today, you refused to tell me anything about your family because, what, you're afraid? Afraid that I'm going to let you down? I get that you've had bad experiences with opening up to people and committment and putting yourself in a vulnerable situation, because of your dad, but you've gotta realize that not all people are like your father! I'm trying, Laura, I really am trying to understand why you go about life with this I'm-going-to-take-on-the-world-by-myself-thank-you-very-much attitude, but I can't." He let his hands drop into his lap helplessly. "You _shouldn't_ be afraid to open up, you _shouldn't_ be afraid to be vulnerable, you _shouldn't_ be afraid of committment, and I am just so damn angry that you can't. You know almost everything about me, even after only a month, so why can't I get that same opportunity? I want to help you, I want to care for you, I want to be whatever you need, but I can't do any of that _if you won't let me_!"

She stood up, eyes blazing. "But that's not fair to me, either! How can you say that when nothing bad's ever happened to you? Have you ever had a parent just disappear on you? Have you ever had to lie awake at night, wondering if you were the reason they left? Have you ever asked yourself, was I not good enough? Was I too fussy, too selfish, too much? Well, I can answer that for you: of course you haven't! You have your picture-perfect family supporting you all the way, no matter what you do, yet you stand here and criticize me for letting my family stand in my way? Well, I'm telling you now, that's not fair! It's not even my dad's fault! I'm sure he was a great guy; Vanessa's told me so herself. My mom and dad were just bad for each other, that's all. And sure, i t was horrible of him to just up and leave instead of filing for divorce like a normal person or whatever, but who knows how crazy my mom was back then? Sure, she's crazy now and then, but you know what? I love her for it! Ross, Stormie**(1)** is an amazing person, but I wouldn't give my own mother up for anything. She may be crazy and unfeeling and cold and ambitious to the point where I have to compete with my own sister, but she loves me, even with all of my own flaws and imperfections**(2)**. So yes, maybe I'm afraid of opening up and committment and vulnerability; in fact, that's most definitely it! But so what? Everyone's got a fatal flaw, maybe that's mine, but I don't give a damn because that's what makes me myself. It's not my mother's fault, it's not my father' s fault, and it's definitely not my sister's fault that I'm like this!"

"So whose fault is it, then?" asked Ross softly as he stood up to tower over her once again. "Whose fault is it that you're broken and battered, burned and bitter?" He let out a humourless laugh. "Although, I supposed I should be thanking that person, because with them, you're broken and battered, burned and bitter, but still the best person I know."

Laura returned his humorless laugh with one of her own. "I don't know, Ross. Me, maybe. No, definitely me. So go ahead, blame me, tell me that I shouldn't be this way, thank me, whatever."

"But I don't want to. I don't want to blame you for anythig, tell you anything, or thank you for anything. I just want you to that I'm here. I'm going to be here until you get sick and tired of me. I'll be here whenever you need me and even when you don't. All of this was just to show you that I care and I'm here to be whatever you need." With that, he gently pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. They were silent for a while, then he said, "So, I'm guessing we'll do gross junk food night with movies?" His words were muffled into her hair, but he could feel the curve of her smile against his neck (yes, that's how short she was compared to him— she was even leaning upwards on her toes a little) when she said,

"Sounds good to me." She pulled back and studied him carefully for a bit, once pausing to smooth down his hair. "Thanks," she finally said. "For everything. Really." And to both of their horror, she started to tear up.

"Uh Laura don't cry weren't we good just a second ago oh no please don't cry I don't know how to deal with crying girls tissue?" he said, all at once and with no punctuation. Reaching over and grabbing a couple of tissues, he offered them to her hesitantly, afraid that the real waterworks might begin if he uttered a single wrong word or moved a single wrong muscle.

She took the tissues from him, dabbing at her eyes. "Thanks," she repeated, laughing. "I just— it's been a while since someone gave me that much to think about and that much to be happy about, I guess. Plus, I haven't had my daily cry yet, so thanks for that," she joked weakly.

He chuckled at her lame attempt at brightening the mood. "No problem, I'm Ross Lynch: Delivering Your Daily Cries Since 1995."

At that she really did laugh. "Ross, Ross, Ross... really, what am I going to do with you?"

He grinned. "Well, you're going to watch a scary movie with me and eat unhealthy junk food until we both fall asleep. Tomorrow morning, you'll go back to your house and I'll go back to mine and this will be one of my favorite memories."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Ross woke up with a ball of Laura cuddled into his shoulder. He grinned sleepily and poked her, rubbing at his eyes. "G'morning, Laur," he mumbled.<p>

She woke slowly, yawning and stretching, then smiling dazedly at him. "Hi," she murmured, giggling. "Your hair..." Trailing off, she reached up and smoothed it down, but it remained stubbornly sticking up. Biting her lip in concentration, she combed her fingers through his hair, determined to make it lie flat.

He let this go on for a bit, then noticed what time it was and grabbed her wrists to stop the combing motion (although, sweet Jesus it felt good). "Hey, hey. I can fix that when I get home. Speaking of home," Groaning, he pushed himself off the couch where he and Laura had been watching movies and eating bad food last night, "You need to get back to yours soon, and I need to get back to mine."

Laura waved a hand at him flippantly, refusing to get up. "Please; they probably didn't notice I was gone. And besides, they know that I stay overnight a lot here. En bee dee, Ross, en bee dee**(3)**."

Pausing in his search for his phone, he sent her an amused look. "En bee dee? Laura, you're a bit lame."

"Psh. You're a lot lame," she retorted lazily.

"Hey, do you know where my phone is? I can't find it," he said.

She held it up from behind her back, a slighly guilty smile curving her lips. "I might have it."

He looked at her like what am I going to do with you?, much like she had to him last night. "You didn't do anything, did you?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Finally standing up, she sashayed over to him and showed him the display on his phone. It was set to Twitter. "I didn't do anything permanently damaging," she joked.

Reading the tweet out loud, he said, "'Hacked by Laura! Hahaha I love you, Ross! Next time don't give your phone to me :D**(4)**" Raising his eyebrows at the brunette currently standing innocently in front of him, he questioned, "'Next time don't give your phone to me'? You stole it from me!"

"Only 'cause you made fun of me for being scared at the movie you picked!" she retorted, sticking her tongue out childishly.

Laughing, he stuck his phone into his pocket and pulled her into a hug. "Imma go now, but promise me you'll go back to your family and at least let them know where you were last night?"

She hesitated, then nodded. Pulling away so she could speak properly, she said, "Alright, I guess." There was a beat of silence, then, in an incredulous tone, "Did you just say 'Imma'?"

Embarrasedly; "Maybe."

* * *

><p>Laura padded quietly into her house an hour later, hoping no one had missed her last night.<p>

Upon passing by the kitchen to get to the stairs, however, she was stopped by none other than her mom and sister. Speak of the devil— no, think of the devils, and they will appear.

"Laura!" Her mom's voice rang out sharply.

Wincing, she backtracked to the kitchen. "Yes, Mom?" she asked.

"Where were you last night?" prompted Mrs. Marano.

"At the studio," replied Laura smoothly.

"With Ross?" Vanessa smiled with the look of an older sister that's thinking: my baby's growing up; *le tears*

At that, Laura did a double take. "How did you know?" she blurted, before realizing her mistake in confirming her sister's comment.

"He came by earlier looking for you, so I figured you were at the studio and he found you," explained Vanessa. Eyes gleaming with mischief, she asked, "You guys weren't doing anything PG-13 and/or above, were you?"

Laura groaned and facepalmed, muttering, "Why, lord, why? Why do people keep asking us that; eurgh!" while her mom said,

"I don't care what you were doing; not really; unless it affects you or your sister's image and career negatively. Also, I have a new proposition for you." Mrs. Marano steepled her fingers in front of her. "We have a plan," at this she glanced at Vanessa, who was eating her Serioh's**(5)** slightly guiltily.

"Hi," mumbled Vanessa, waving quickly at her sister.

Laura narrowed her eyes at her. "Ness... Am I going to regret hearing out your plan?"

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged and nodded. "Probably."

Exasperated, Laura sat down and looked expectantly towards her mother. "Well?"

"Ross Lynch... brother to Rocky Lynch, correct?" Laura nodded, then motioned for her mother to continue. "Rocky Lynch... unknown, but very talented. If he gets a little help; well, who knows how far he could go. And Vanessa needs a boyfriend who's a little under the radar; it'll create a publicity storm perfect for when we annouce her record deal—"

"Mom!" Vanessa cut her off frustratedly. "I don't want a record deal! I can't sing, but Laura can! She writes music, too**(6)**, why can't you get her a record deal?"

Mrs. Marano dismissed that with a wave. "As I was saying. Laura, it's decided. Get close to that Lynch boy; date him, whatever. Get close enough to make the other Lynch boy fall for Vanessa. Simple as that."

Laura gaped at her mother. "You want me to make Rocky fall for Vanessa?" She let out a short bark of disbelieving laughter. "Mom, that's a new low for you..."

Mrs. Marano's eyes hardened. "Don't talk to me like that— you know what, _do_ talk to me like that. As long as you agree to doing this for your sister—"

"Not for me, for you," mumbled Vanessa.

"As long as you agree to doing this for your sister," repeated Mrs. Marano, ignoring her daughter. "then I'm good with you staying overnight at the studio to make out with the Lynch boy or whatever."

"If I agree to this, will you stop calling Ross 'the Lynch boy'? He has a name, you know," snapped Laura.

"So you've agreed to it; great. Now, Vanessa, I need to talk to you about..."

Laura sighed, getting up from her seat as her mother turned her attention back to her sister. Vanessa could only shoot her an apologetic look before turning back to listen to their mother.

It was only after her mother had left to attend to some other duties that Vanessa realized Laura hadn't even been offered breakfast. And that broke her heart a little.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, at the Lynch residence...<em>

Ross crept quietly into his house, hoping no one would ask about his night.

"Ross!" A flying ball of glitter princess and jean shorts and combat boots flew at him. "So? How was your night?" asked Rydel eagerly, blinking large brown eyes at him.

"It was normal, why?" replied Ross, trying to sound nonchalant.

Rydel rolled her eyes. "Normal, right. You spent the night with LaurLaur!" Smiling mischeviously, she dragged him into the kitchen. "You weren't up to anything PG-13 and/or above, were you?" she asked.

Ross groaned, the tips of his ears turning red even as he said, "No! God, why does everyone keep asking us that?"

"Well, a girl and a guy staying the night together; you're going to receive a lot of these assumptions," replied Stormie, having overheard their conversation.

"What if the girl and guy were brother-and-sister?" argued Ross.

Rydel wrinkled her nose. "Laura? Your sister? But then you wouldn't be able to marry her and make her my sister!"

"Wouldn't you be sisters with her already, if she was his sister?" Ryland pointed out, walking in.

"Who's doing laundry today?" asked Stormie.

Hearing that, Ryland started to creep sneakily out.

"Ryland..." Stormie trailed off knowingly with a laugh. "Ryland, your clothes go in a separate wash, okay? Otherwise all the black will bleed into everyone else's clothes."

"Okay, Mom," grumbled Ryland, trodding out.

Rydel shook her head, turning back to Ross. "Where were we? Oh, right; you and Laura are definitley not brother-and-sister, you're more like pseudo boyfriend-and-girlfriend!"

Ross's eyebrows shot up at this. "Pseodo boyfriend-and-girlfriend? We're just friends!" Opening the fridge, he sighed. "Why can't you all understand that?" Taking out a plate of the frosted cookies he had made for Laura a while ago, he sat down at the kitchen island, munching on one grumpily.

Rydel raised her eyebrows at him. "You're eating a cookie that says Ross+Laura=Raurawesome!."

"So?"

"So, Raurawesome. Raura. Your couple name, hello? Raura's your couple name!"

"It could also be our friendship name, how's that?"

"HAHAHAHA NO."

* * *

><p><em>At the same time, at Calum's apartment...<em>

"Raini! Honey, it's so good to see you!" Calum's mom opened up the door with a smile.

"You, too!" Raini hugged her warmly. Then, pulling back, she said, "Calum didn't tell me you were visiting!**(7)**" She paused for a second, then, "Then again, Calum isn't telling me much these days..."

Concernedly, Mrs. Worthy questioned, "What do you mean?", drawing the petite bushy-haired brunette into the living room and sitting her down.

"Well, he likes this girl, and he wants me to help him 'woo her'— yes, that's a direct quote—, but he won't tell me who she is! And I've nudged and pushed and shoved and strangled, but he refuses to give me even a hint as to who she is," huffed Raini, crossing her arms.

Mrs. Worthy blinked at her, surprised. "Don't you know that it's—"

"Hi Raini!" interrupted Calum, a little too brightly and a little too quickly for Raini's taste.

"Wait a sec, your mom was just going to tell me—" she started, but Calum grabbed her wrist and started pulling her with him, cutting her off with,

"Nope, that's fine, I'm sure whatever she wanted to tell you can wait until _never_." He shot his mother a pointed look before continuing to drag Raini into the kitchen.

"Okay, okay, you have me! So, why am I here, exactly?" Exasperated, Raini hopped on the counter to even out the height difference a bit.

Calum shrugged. "I just wanted to hang out. Do I have to have a reason for asking you to meet me?"

"Well, lately it's been this whole mystery-girl situation, so let's work on that. Have you gotten her number yet?" she asked expectantly.

"Yeah, but—"

"Next step is to get to know her, then!"

Slightly irritated now, Calum replied, "I already know her really well. Anyways—"

"Great, so spend some more time with her, you can ask her out! Here, you can even practice on me," she offered graciously.

"Stop!" Calum held his hands up in a T. "Time-out, Raini, okay? I get that you want to help me with my mystery girl, and I remember clearly that I specifically asked you to, but I just want to hang out normally! Forget the mystery girl; why can't we go out and, I dunno, take a square-dance class or something?!"

Raini looked slightly taken aback. "O-Okay. I guess I've been a little too gung-ho on your mystery girl, but... Square-dancing?"

He shrugged. "Why not? Besides, my friend opened up a new dance studio on downtown LA and they offer square-dancing classes; let's go!" He started to pull her out of the kitchen, and she had no choice but to follow, laughing.

"Square-dancing. You really have lost your sanity this time."

"You can't lose what you never had!"

* * *

><p><em>Later that day...<em>

Raini collapsed comfortably onto her bed, sighing happily. Picking up her phone, she dialed Laura and was greeted with a customary, "Hi! Laura here, how're you?**(8)**"

"Hey! Girl, you won't believe what Calum dragged me into today!" exclaimed Raini.

"What; you mean, besides this whole mystery girl thing?" asked Laura tiredly.

"Well yeah, that too, but- hey, are you alright?" asked Raini, noticing the dullness of Laura's tone.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I just- my mom, y'know?" She sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, babe," replied Raini softly. "But hey, what happened with you and Ross after I called you yesterday?"

"Well, we talked things over and in the end, all he wanted was to be there for me. He was being all sweet and puppy-like and... I dunno, we ended up eating junk food and watching scary movies at the studio." Raini could tell that Laura was smiling fondly at that moment, even through the phone. "So, what happened with you and Calum?" she asked, sounding much happier.

"He made me go to a square-dancing class today. A _square-dancing_ class. I swear that boy is out of his mind," she chuckled.

"But you sound like you had fun, so it couldn't be that bad, right?"

"It _was_ fun... Calum may be crazy, but he's never boring." It was Raini's turn to smile fondly, even though she knew Laura couldn't see it. "Tell me, Laura, what do you _really_ think of Ross?"

"I think... I think that this whole GTKEO thing is the most fun I've had in ages, and Ross himself... he's decent, I guess."

"_Decent_? Laura, you liar!"

* * *

><p><strong> AN: New post on Wordpress; check it out.**

**(1) Stormie is Ross's mom. (2) Of course, in real life, Laura's family is just as picture-perfect as Ross's, but I needed some drama, so... (3) En bee dee= NBD= No Big Deal (4) This tweet isn't real, obviously. Also, at this point in the story, Laura doesn't have a twitter yet. (5) Hi Keri. (6) It's true, check out ! (7) Calum and his family are from Canada. (8) Laura's so kuit and adorable I can just picture her greeting everybody with that sweet little message jdlasncknkdjkfjnkj LAURA LET ME LOVE YOU**

**Also, I'm sorry it's so short! I'll try to make the next one longer, promise.**

**ALERT ALERT: Twitter username has changed to from_sabrina, and it's the last change, I promise... probably.**

**AND OMF 111 REVIEWS IN 5 CHAPTERS kxfnjskanjkldfniwleqwpkjfdhw LET ME LOVE YOU ALL**

**Seriously, though, THAT'S AMAZING! Thank you so much; all of you! Readers, reviewers, alerters, favoriters, anons; I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**From,  
>Sabrina<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

At six in the morning, life really sucked for Laura. She woke up late, didn't get to eat breakfast (she was sure Stormie would've chided her about that had she been there— something like, _Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, sweetie!_), and arrived to work late in sweats, a hasty bun, and her glasses.

The people around her bore varying expressions; some were tired, some were awake and ready to go, some were excited, and some were just Garron**(1)**.

"You're late," he scolded half-heartedly. Like Laura, he had never been much of a morning person, and this morning was no different.

Laura smiled at that; Garron could always cheer her up by being more grumpy than she was. "Good morning to you, too," she replied cheekily.

"It's not a good morning." He deadpanned and handed her a steaming cup of tea. "Your favorite and my doom," he intoned.

"What? You don't like making my tea for me?" joked Laura, taking the cup gratefully and flashing him a smile.

"No, I don't. Why can't you just drink coffee like Calum**(2)**? At least then I wouldn't have to make so many different drinks. Every morning it's you and your tea, Calum and his coffee, Raini and her orange juice, and Ross with his three glasses of milk a day," complained Garron dramatically, heaving a sigh at the end. "'Tis the life of a personal assisstant."

Laura laughed out loud, patting Garron on the back. "We love you, Garron!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled, whipping out his phone and switching to Laura's Schedule. "Okay, today we're shooting Scenes 5 and 6 of Episode 12, and then you have school, then you come back for Scenes 3 and 7, and then you're done for the day**(3)**. Throughout the whole day, however, you'll be doing interviews and stuff like that," he explained, power-walk-guiding her to Wardrobe. "For now, just get dressed and made up while I try and figure out my tax returns."

She raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to grin. "I see," she nodded faux-seriously. "Good luck with that, and don't die!" She called as he exited Wardrobe.

Waving a hand over his shoulder casually, he replied, "No guarantees!"

* * *

><p>"And... Cut!" called Eric<strong>(4)<strong>, and the cameras stopped rolling. "Alright, alright, my cast!" He gathered Ross, Laura, Raini, and Calum together next to him. "That was good, but I want to see a little more _oomph_ from you, Calum. Instead of that sort of medium pitched squeal, use a pitchy, squeaky squeal, okay? Raini, you can actually just sit on the counter this scene; it doesn't really make a difference and it does diminish the height differences slightly. And Laura and Ross... I don't know how well your getting to know each other thing has been going, but whatever you're doing, it's working. Your chemistry seems great, and I've been getting good reports from my bosses about the ratings."

"Yay!" Laura clapped her hands, jumping up and down and grinning at Ross.

"Awesome!" he agreed, slapping high-fives with her.

"Bottom line; keep doing what you're doing, and go to school!" Eric grinned, shooing the younger two actors off, then turned to Calum and Raini. "I need you two to go do some interviews with Fanlala right now, and then come back for Scene 2."

"Got it; make fun of ourselves on camera, and then make more fun of ourselves," Calum paraphrased, grabbing Raini's wrist and waving at Eric cheerfully. "Toodles, Eric!"

"... Um. Toodles."

* * *

><p>"So Garron and I were talking about drinks this morning," started Laura, as they were on the way to the lounge where they'd meet with their on-set teachers. "and he said that you drink three glasses of milk a day?"<p>

"Oh, yeah. Ever wonder why I'm so tall and like, muscular?" asked Ross.

"Because you're descended from the Hulk," replied Laura instantly.

"... Huh?" He furrowed his brow and stopped short.

She covered her mouth with a giggle, eyes twinkling. "Oops, that just slipped out by accident... It's something the fans keep saying on Twitter."

His eyes widened. "They say that I'm descended from the Hulk? ... Cool!" He looked like a little kid just then, and Laura couldn't resist the urge to ruffle his hair a bit. "Hey!" He swatted at her hands. "Don't mess up my flow, yo!" he exclaimed, trying for a _cool rapper_ effect.

Laura wrinkled her nose. "'Don't mess up my flow... yo'?" The words felt foreign on her tongue, and they both laughed at their combined riduclousness. "If anyone has, uh, flow, it's Calum," she added, grinning.

"Children, children, children!" trilled Yvette**(5)**, fluttering her hands in the air as she approached them. "Time is a-wasting, and flirting can be done later!" Immediately, protests began, but she just flapped her hands in her direction, managing to accidentally clip Tony**(5)** in the ear.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, clutching his ear. "Jesus, woman!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Yvette patted his back anxiously. "It runs in the family; we're Italian, sweetie. We like to use our hands to emphasize our point a lot."

"Why couldn't your family be Irish?" grumbled Tony.

"Oh, you're being rude again, so you must be fine! Carry on," replie Yvette primly. She smiled apologetically at Ross and Laura, who had watched the whole scene in amusement. "Sorry, kids. What I meant to say was, there's no need to deny anything! After all, if things are as you say, then nothing's going ok between you two... right?"

Ross and Laura nodded emphatically. "Nothing at all!" they chorused in unison.

Yvette narrowed her eyes. "Get out your calculus notebooks. But I'm watching you two... No secrets. I see everything."

"You're crazy," Tony told her half-heartedly.

"No I'm not, I'm just monitoring the children for any signs that they may be romantically involved," she reasoned. "I mean, if they are, then I'm going to cry because my babies are growing up and _awwww_ romance!"

Garron walked in at that moment, noticed the starry-eyed look in Yvette's eyes, and promptly started to back out.

"See? I'm telling you, it's like I work in a mental institution all day," complained Tony, grinning slightly as he heard Garron's fading reply of,

"Agreed!"

* * *

><p>"Calum, Raini, Garron sent me over to tell you that you two have interviews right now," reminded Pierre<strong>(5)<strong>.

"Garron, Garron," said Calum, shaking his head faux-disappointedly and tsk-ing. "Is he slacking on the job?" he asked Pierre.

"Not even. He's still trying to figure out his tax returns," snorted Pierre. "Well, I have to go aggravate Simone**(5)**, so see you later for Scenes 3 and 7."

Raini leaned over to Calum and whispered, "He totally likes her."

Calum nodded. "Love is in the aiiiiiiiiir!" he sang wobbily, just as the Fanlala reporter came in with her cameraman. "Hi," he said nonchalantly, tipping an imaginary hat towards the camera. "My singing is _great_, right?"

The reporter laughed. "Definitely. Hey Fanlala fans, it's Jacey Joy, and I'm on the set of Austin & Ally with the always lovely Raini Rodriguez," the camera panned to Raini, who gave a little wave, "and the always ginger Calum Worthy, stars of the Disney Channel musical comedy."

"Hi Fanlala!" Raini and Calum chorused.

"So, I have some questions from the fans for you guys; here's the first one, from Nicole in California and she asks, and I quote: Calum, how do you get your hair to flow like dat?" asked Jacey, trying to keep a straight face.

"Well," Calum flicked his hair to the side a little, "first you have to learn the correct way to use a comb and hair gel. Of course, if you want the _au naturale_ look like me, you gotta side-comb." He demonstrated, combing his hair to the side with his fingers.

"Just keep side-combing, just keep side-combing, just keep side-combing," chimed in Raini, to the tune of Just Keep Swimming.

Calum paused and wrinkled his nose. "Not quite as catchy."

Grinning amusedly, Jacey continued. "Well, as you can see, the cast has great chemistry, which brings us to our next question, from Mary in Long Island, New York. She asks, How much do you guys hang out outside of Austin & Ally and are there any great friendshipsCOUGHromances between the four of you?"

"Oh, we hang out 24/7," replied Raini easily, artfully avoiding the question about romances. "Literally, the same friendship you see onscreen is the one we all share."

"It's awesome," added Calum. "It's like I get to hang out with all my best friends, doing crazy things, and I get paid for it!"

"Exactly." Raini nodded. "We see movies together, we go to parties, we have jam sessions, and we're basically all super comfortable with the others. We're always over at each other's houses— the Lynches is a great place to go, because there's so many people and it's just so exciting all the time, y'know?" Turning to Calum, she grinned. "Of course, whenever Calum goes over..."

"I stand out like a sore thumb," he finished. "The Lynch clan is all tanned and blonde or brunette, and me... Well, the freckles are real. The hair color is from a bottle," he joked.

"And the skin is one hundred percent sprayed-on," added Raini.

"Yup. Underneath the sprayed-on pale skin, I'm like, brown," assured Calum.

Laughing again, Jacey turned to the camera. "Well, that's all we have time for today, but be sure to stick around, because with this much wit and humor, the cast of Austin & Ally are definitely going to be rising stars. Keep an eye out for them, folks, and don't forget to tune into Austin & Ally which plays on..." She turned to Raini and Calum for dramatic effect.

"Sundays at 8!" answered Raini, while Calum scratched his head and went,

"What's Austin & Ally?"

* * *

><p>"And here are your tests back..." Tony handed Ross and Laura their tests, smiling as Laura gave a little "Yay!" of happiness.<p>

Ross scanned his test, then brought his eyes up to the grade written at the top and broke into a wide grin. "Ninety-eight!" He whooped, leaping up and engulfing Laura in a bear hug. "Thanks for helping me with that theorum, I would have _never_ gotten it otherwise!"

Laura laughed, taking a moment to breathe in his fresh-laundry scent. The smell of fresh laundry was nice, she mused, smiling contentedly. "I'm sure you would've gotten it eventually, even without my help," she said after a moment, her words muffled into his chest. "You're stubborn like that, remember?" And she felt, rather than heard, his chuckle.

"Yeah, okay, break it up, break it up!" Tony waved his hands in front of the hugging pair.

"Hush, you," scolded Yvette. "They're having a moment!"

"But but but— PDA!" Tony whisper-exclaimed.

"Pshaw, they're in high school," sighed Yvette dreamily.

"Yvette, I know what your mulishly-romantic heart and brain is thinking right now," said Ross, releasing Laura from his arms.

"And it's not true," finished Laura solidly.

Yvette sniffed haughtily. "Well, excuse you, Mr. and Mrs. Romeo and Juliet. Nothing's going on, my foot."

"... but Romeo and Juliet died."

"Tony, are we really going back to that right now?!"

-7-

After their lessons for the day, Ross and Laura walked back to the Sonic Boom set together. Laura's eyes caught on Ross's R5 necklace that he always wore, and her thoughts drifted to Rocky Lynch, then to her mother's "proposition".

"Hey, you okay?" asked Ross concernedly, noticing her spaciness (and Laura was never spacey).

She nodded absently, then started abruptly, "So... Rocky."

Ross blinked, a little unnerved at the suddent change of topics. "Uh... yeah?"

"Well, I was thinking about... um, relationships over the weekend, and then that led me to my sister, and then that led me to your brother, and I just think they'd be a great couple, right?" Laura smiled widely, her grin so fake that it hurt.

"Sure... I guess. But why were you thinking about that in the first place?" he asked.

"Psh, that part doesn't matter," Laura laughed it off nervously. "So, what type of girl is Rocky looking for?"

"_A_ girl," replied Ross instantly, then widened his eyes. "Oops."

Laura laughed for real this time, patting Ross's shoulder fondly. "_A_ girl? Really, Ross?"

He shrugged unapologetically. "It's true, though. Rocky's 18; what do you expect?"

"So does that mean since you're 16, all you're looking for is _a_ girl?"

"Nah, I'm just looking for you." He stared straight at her, then burst out laughing. "You should've seen your face! Oh my god, you didn't actually think I was serious, did you?"

Laura instantly blushed and started stammering. "W-Well, you're an actor, so it's harder to tell if you're lying and you looked so serious and— ugh, you're awful!" she cried, shoving at him. It only made him chortle harder.

"Okay, okay, okay," he said finally, calming down. "I'm sorry for making fun of you. I promise, though, if I ever _do_ date you..." His words hung in the air for a second, and then he grinned. "I'll tease you harder!"

"I hate you."

"No you don't, you want to date me, remember?"

"Please. Keep dreaming, Blondie. You're too tall for me, anyway."

"Wha— that's not even a valid reason!"

* * *

><p>The interviewer caught them just as they were coming on set, jostling each other and joking around.<p>

"Hey guys, I'm here from Fanlala!" greeted Jacey, shaking each of their hand enthusiasticly. Turning to the camera, she said, "It's Jacey Joy again, back on set with Ross Lynch and Laura Marano, the stars of the Disney channel hit show, Austin & Ally!"

"Hi Fanlala!" exclaimed Laura, waving excitedly.

"'Sup?" added Ross, striking a pose.

"I interviewed Calum and Raini earlier and she said that you all get along super well... Is that true?" asked Jacey, jumping immediately into the interview.

"Oh yeah, definitely. We're all like family," explained Laura. "We argue and tease each other like family, we moan and groan and complain to each other like family— we would do anything for each other, just like family."

"'Ohana means family,'" quoted Ross.

"'And family means no one gets left behind,'" they finished together.

"Aw, that's the sweetest thing I've heard today!" cooed Jacey. Then, noticing how unproffesional she was getting, she cleared her throat. "Sorry, back to the interview! Okay, I have a game that I want you two to play for me, alright?"

"I'm up for it," replied Ross amiably.

"Let's do this," said Laura, jokingly rolling her neck and shaking out her arms in anticipation.

"Great! First, I want you two to stand facing away from each other on either side of me— yup, just like that." Jacey nodded as Ross and Laura arranged themselves to her directions. "Then, I'm going to ask you both a question. It's going to be like, Who's the best at Guitar Hero? or something like that, and if you think it's you, raise your hand. If you think it's the other person, point back to them over your shoulder**(6)**," explained Jacey. "This is a test to see how well you really know each other. In the end I'll give you the number of times you two agreed out of the whole number of questions, and that'll be your GTKEO-quotient."

"We got this, Ross, we got this," assured Laura.

"Alright, first question: Who's the messiest person?" asked Jacey. Immediately, Ross's hand shot up and Laura's thumb pointed back toward him. "Your results matched, so that's a one of out one! Second question: Who's the best cook?" Ross's thumb pointed back towards Laura, and her hand was slowly creeping its way up in the air. "Matching again! Ross, what is Laura's best dish?" questioned Jacey.

Ross grinned. "Well, actually, sometimes I go over to her house before we have to be at work so we can come here together, and she makes great breakfast."

"Yeah, he takes advantage of me for that," confided Laura.

Jacey laughed; this pair had great energy and enthusiasm! "Third and last question: Which one of you is more romantic?" Each of them pointed back to the other, and Jacey made an "ENG!" sound, swinging her arms down in an X. "Incorrect! Now tell me, what made you two point towards each other?"

"Oh, Ross is such a softie. He's all muscle and height outside, but on the inside, he's a total romantic," replied Laura. "His favorite movie is Romeo and Juliet, and he's always brooding about romance."

"What? No I am not!" Ross protested indignantly. "That second part is not true," he insisted.

"Explain why you pointed to Laura, Ross," prompted Jacey.

"She's a girl!" spluttered Ross, at which both females turned accusingly to him.

"Are you being sexist?" they both demanded.

His weak response was, "... No."

* * *

><p>At lunch, Laura conferred with Raini and told her about her mother's plan.<p>

"Wow... That's actually the most ridiculous thing I've heard today," replied Raini. "And I've been with Calum the whole day."

"Isn't it though?" agreed Laura. "And shut up, you love spending time with Calum," she added.

"Love? I wouldn't call it that... Tolerate, at most," argued Raini.

"Do I hear Raini insulting me again?" Calum sat down next to them, grinning. "Be still, my heart."

"You're not funny," deadpanned Raini.

"I'm actually hilarious; my fans have told me so," informed Calum.

"_My_ fans think I'm descended from the Hulk," Ross chimed in, sitting down as well.

"Yeah, but while _your_ fans are correct, _his_ are not," reasoned Raini.

"I don't see _your_ fans rushing to tell you how funny you are," Calum grumbled.

"Um, actually, they do, you're just too..." And another argument began.

"So much drama. It's like Ally Dawson's Creek**(7)** around here," commented Garron, walking on past them.

"Never a dull moment," laughed Laura.

"Speaking of moments never being dull..." began Ross, turning to her hesitantly.

"Uh-oh." She narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, every year my family has a big get-together, and since I'm turning sixteen soon, I get to start bringing an extra guest," he explained. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to come...?"

Laura positively beamed. "Of course! Why didn't you just say so? I'd be honored to be a part of the Lynch clan family reunion," she joked. Then, softly, "I'm really happy I'm important enough to you for you to invite me to this."

He winked. "Well, I was told to bring someone pretty."

And she was touched by his words, so much that she blurted out, "I think you're pretty."

He furrrowred his brow. "What?"

"I mean... I just meant to say that I think you're decent-looking, that's all," mumbled Laura.

"My fans have told me that I'm hot," he said.

"Well, there's something your fans were wrong about," she teased.

"Laura, you wound me so!"

* * *

><p>"So, a little birdy told me you're going with Ross to his family reunion," trilled Raini, catching up with Laura as everyone began leaving after the relatively short day on set.<p>

"Wha— how did you know?" exclaimed Laura.

"Why? Is there something you don't want me to know?" teased Raini. She let out an amused sigh as Laura started to stammer. "I was listening in on your conversation with Calum," she admitted.

"You guys eavesdropped on us?"

"Eavesdropped, overheard; tomato, tomahto." Raini waved it off breezily, then turned to Laura excitedly. "You know what this means, right?"

Laura was completely clueless. "No..."

"It means that you're getting closer! Like, _really_ close close!" Exasperated, Raini took Laura by the shoulders ad shook her. "I bet he likes you!"

"Well of course he likes me... We're best friends," replied Laura, skillfully avoiding the real meaning behind Raini's words. "Anyways, what do you think I should wear? I don't want to look too dressed-up, but then again, I don't want to look underdressed, either," she fretted.

Raini laughed. "Relax; just wear your normal adorable clothes. I'm sure Ross would like you even if you were wearing a paper bag, anyways!"

* * *

><p>On Saturday, Ross arrived at Laura's house dressed nicely in khakis, boat shoes, and a yellow polo.<p>

"Hi," she greeted him shyly, stepping out carefully in a yellow sundress and white cardigan.

"Hey look, we match!" He grinned, shoving his arm against hers.

"Well, it wasn't too hard to guess what color you'd be wearing," she replied dryly.

"True, true. Hey, did you get taller overnight?" He still looked down at the top of her head, but the distance looked like it had shrunk.

"Heels, Ross, heels." She kicked a leg up to show her nude colored Mary Jane heels. "Although I bet my feet will be sore within a few hours..."

"I'm not carrying you if that happens," said Ross hurriedly. "I'm not that romantic, even though you and Jacey Joy seem to think so," he added on, grumbling slightly. "Well, I can't stay annoyed at you for that; you're too pretty."

"And you look nice," she returned, touched at his compliment. Glancing at the car behind him, she asked, "Who's driving us there?"

"Me, of course." Ross went around to the other side of the car and she followed, pulling a mock curtsy when he opened the door for her.

"You're not serious, though, are you?" Laura's tone was dubious.

"Completely serious, why?"

"You don't even have your learner's permit yet!" she exclaimed

"So? Lots of people drive without learner's permits, and I'm an experienced driver. Also known as an awesomely amazing one," he corrected.

"You're going to get us killed, I swear," she grumbled, but got into the car nevertheless. She only heard his laugh as he shut the door and entered again through the driver's door.

"Relax; I haven't done nearly everything I wanted to before I die, so we can't die now," he reasoned, starting up the car.

"You don't make sense," she deadpanned, strapping her seatbelt on.

"Don't insult the driver."

"...Fine."

*Smug silence*

"... Jerk."

"Hey!"

* * *

><p>They ended up pulling in smoothly to the parking lot of a fancy restaurant, and Laura was glad she had went with the heels and the dress, instead of the jeans and the blouse. She was also glad that Ross's driving hadn't killed them.<p>

"I have to say, though, that was some pretty good driving," she admitted.

"See? I told you, I'm a good driver," he insisted.

"You should just be glad we didn't get arrested," she sing-songed back at him.

He opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by a pair of hands tugging at his cheeks.

"Ross! Darling boy, how you've grown!" cooed an elderly woman.

Ross smiled politely with the experience of years of dealing with females. "Hi, Grandma," he greeted. "How are you?"

"Eighty-three and never better," she replied proudly. Her eyes twinkling, she turned to Laura. "And who is this young lady that you_ brought here with you?_"

"This is Laura," he introduced. "She's one of my co-stars on Austin & Ally, and a great person overall... except when she teases me."

"Pshaw, a boy like you needs a little bit of ego-deflating every now and then," reasoned his grandma. "Anyways, your girlfriend is quite lovely, but I see Beau over there, and I haven't seen him in three months!" With that, she was off.

Laura blinked. "Are Lynch clan reunions always quite so..."

"Hectic? Chaotic? But fun? Yes, yes, and yes," he replied.

"And why'd she say _your girlfriend_?" She furrowed her brow. "She knows we're only friends, right?"

"It's nothing; just an old family superstition-slash-tradition," he explained, sounding embarrassed.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Ross, my man!" Derek Hough strode up to him, (thankfully) interrupting Laura's line of questioning. "How's my favorite cousin doing?"

"Good, I'm doing good. How are you?" returned Ross.

"I'm doing good as well... but who is this?" Derek turned to Laura, his smile growing wider.

"Laura; she plays Ally on-"

"Your show, I know, I know. But _who is she_ to you?" asked Derek.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, Derek, gotta go bye!" Quickly, Ross grabbed Laura's wrist and started tugging her away.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing!" he insisted.

"Ross, who do you have with you?" asked yet another relative. Only this time, it was a familiar one.

"Rydel, thank god!" exclaimed Ross. "Grandma and Derek have been asking me about Laura, and I bet everyone else will once they realize she's here with me, so can you take her for a couple minutes?"

"Yeah, sure..." Rydel trailed off as Ross ran off and she eyed what Laura was wearing. Then, bursting into a mischevious grin, she squealed, "Oh my god, you're matching! That's actually the cutest thing ever, wow."

Laura blushed. "Well, I thought it'd look nice if Ross and I matched... and it wasn't that hard to predict what color he was going to wear, so..." She shrugged uncomfortably.

"You're blushing, aww," cooed Rydel.

"Shut up," mumbled Laura, but her rapidly growing redder face gave it all away. "Hey, do you know what this tradition-slash-superstition thing is?" she asked, trying to steer Rydel away from the topic of Ross and her. "Everyone who we've met keeps asking Ross who I am, and what I mean to him and stuff. Every time I ask him about it, he just mentions something about a family tradition."

Rydel's eyes widened, and she rubbed her hands together. "He hasn't told you yet? Oh, this is going to be good. You see, at our family reunions, the tradition is to start bringing someone with you once you're 16. The superstition is that whoever you come with is the person you're dating or going to date, and for the older generations, they think that it means you two will get married."

Laura gaped. "_Married_?"

Rydel nodded, her smile so wide she could barely contain it. "Yup. Oh man, this is so awesome that I get to tell you first... but you know, I think he really does like you," she confided.

"No he doesn't; we're just friends," repeated Laura automatically.

"Are you kidding? Do you remember the first time you came over to GTKEO better and Ross spilled spaghetti on you?" prompted Rydel.

"Yeah..." Laura nodded slowly, failing to see how this was relevant.

"He lent you his sweater and sweatpants, right?" At Laura's nod, Rydel continued. "You didn't know it, but those were Ross's favorite sweater and sweatpants. He doesn't let anyone wear them, _ever_. We knew that, of course, so right off the bat we knew you were something special to him."

Laura tried to blow it off. "It's just clothes; Rydel, c'mon."

Rydel narrowed her eyes. "Maybe to you, but not to him. No secrets. I see all."

"You and Yvette would get along quite well."

"Please, I'm way ahead of you. We've already planned out your first date."

"_Rydel!_"

* * *

><p>Three hours later, the reunion was over. Laura had never been asked who she was so many times, and she had never been faced with so many pairs of twinkling eyes before.<p>

"Your family is... they're something," she told Ross, later as they stood on her doorstep.

He scoffed. "Oh yeah. Definitely."

"But despite all the weird traditions and the amount of cheek-tugging and pinching... I really enjoyed it," she admitted.

"My family really likes you," he offered.

"That's good. I'm glad I make a good first impression."

"Oh, believe me... Your first impressions are... captivating," he breathed out, getting closer to her. Slowly, ever so slowly, he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek goodnight, but...

The lights flickered. Mrs. Marano tapped the window glass, mouthing _Hurry up!_ to the two teens outside, who immediately jumped apart.

Disappointed, Laura let out a _whoosh_ of a sigh. "Well, goodnight," she said opening the door.

"Goodnight," he murmured.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, first of all, I can't even begin to how sorry I am for not updating sooner. However, school and extracurriculars have started, and I do have friends and a life (KERI I'm talking to you when I say I will throw you out of a window if you make a comment on this), and with all those obligations, it's hard to find time to write. Plus, I'm knee-deep in four Auslly multi-chaps right now, and if I stick to my minimum of 4,000+ words for each chapter (excluding my one-shot collection), then that's about 16,000+ words (most of the time I go up to and sometimes over 6,000 words for each chapter) to write and four fics to update. Regardless, I am trying, and further details will be posted SOON on my Wordpress, which you can find a link to on my profile, or just type anythingandeverything99. wordpress. com into the address bar.**

**In addition to those stories, I'm also doing one-shots published separately from OOO for my friends on Twitter, so if you're ever in need of reading material... xP (there are a bunch of Raura ones, too).**

**(1)** Garron is the Personal Assistant to the cast of Austin & Ally. Everyone absolutely adores him; he's the funniest person ever ermagherd. He tweets from AustinAllyPA, if you guys want to go check him out. **(2)** Calum, Raini, and Garron tweet about Calum's love for coffee quite often. It's become a popular topic and joke amongst the A&A fandom, really. **(3)** Okay, here's some basic knowledge: Laura goes to a normal public high school when she's not working, while Ross has been homeschooled since five centuries ago. On set, they both have teachers so they can complete the required hours of school. Also, when shooting movies, TV shows, anything, really, they normally don't shoot scenes in order, so don't get confused. **(4)** Eric Dean Seaton is a director for Disney. **(5)** If you've forgotten, To ny and Yvette are the characters I made up to be Ross and Laura's on-set teachers. Pierre and Simone are also OC's (stands for Other Character— means that it's a character the author made up themselves) that are set assistants or something. **(6)** Okay, originally this type of interview game was going to happen later on in the story, bu I just saw the RadioDisney interview with Sarah Hyland and Matt Prokop where they did this and it was so cute that I just had to put it in, now. **(7)** Garron actually tweeted about this; go Twitter-stalk him.

**This chapter seems more like a filler chapter to me, so I'd like to apologize and most of all, I hope you stick around for the next chapter :)**

**From,**  
><strong>Sabrina<strong>


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